Cascade Horizon Band concert a big hit

More than 300 Sisters area residents of all ages turned out Sunday afternoon for the Third Annual Summer concert series of the Cascade Horizon Band. The band — a 50-member group with most players in their 70s and 80s — performed in the comfortably air-conditioned Sisters High School auditorium on one of the hottest days of the early summer.

Musical numbers played included stirring marches, popular music from the movies, and novelty numbers that delighted the audience. Songs from Disney movies, Henry Mancini compositions and a “big band” medley highlighted the program. The tune “The Great Steamboat Race” featured sound effects imitating the paddle wheels, combined with calliope sounds and other effects. Another number featured a stand-up trombone quartet.

Band president Marilyn Burkholder opened the program, stating that while this was the group’s 51st performance in their three years of existence, it was their first concert performance in Sisters. The band had played in this year’s Sisters Rodeo parade earlier in the month.

“We have two Sisters members in our band,” she said. “Don Oliver and Tom Worcester convinced us that we should come to Sisters to perform in this wonderful facility.”

Band director Sue Steiger led the musicians through a program with great variety. She has been the band director at High Desert Middle School for the past 17 years. When she was invited to direct the Central Oregon group, she was ready as well as patient. She started the musicians where most sixth grade bands start, playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

The Cascade Horizon Band was organized in 2003 with only 12 members. It was the 74th band nationally to join in the New Horizons senior band program affiliated with the prestigious Eastman School of Music in New York. That program started in 1992 and now has over 100 bands throughout the country with over 4,000 members.

Most band members had not played for decades when they responded to calls for musicians. For some, it was a struggle to even get a sound out of their instrument. A few even tried to play new instruments and several had never played at all. There are no auditions for the band or assigned chairs.

The band next plays at the Deschutes County Fair and for the Cruz-In Auto Show, both in August.

For those interested in joining the band, weekly rehearsals are each Tuesday from 3:45 to 6 p.m. at the High Desert Middle School, 61111 S.E. 27th St. in Bend. Visitors are always welcome, according to Burkholder. Call her at 330-1989 for more information.