by SC Features Writer Reanna Haase
After searching high and low for a way to clear her mind, Gail Bachman saw a ‘calling all clarinet players’ ad posted by the BIG ARTS Concert Band, over two decades ago, and she knew the answer had been right in front of her all along.
“I’d gone for classes on clearing your mind, focusing, and promoting relaxation. And then I realized, I don’t need exercises to do that, because playing music with other people does that for me,” said Bachman, the longest-standing member of the BIG ARTS Concert Band. “I feel serene when I play. I am very lucky that it found me.”
After not playing clarinet for about 40 years, Bachman said joining this community band was life-changing for her and she felt there was a hole in her life when the band was forced into a year-long hiatus, last year. Due to the impact of Hurricane Ian, then shortly following, the sudden and tragic passing of the band’s beloved director, August ‘Augie’ Thoma, along with many other factors, the group decided to take a break, said Maureen Thoma, August’s widow.
“Everything kind of fell apart,” said Melissa ‘Missy’ Calkin, the new director of the BIG ARTS Concert Band. “He was the glue that kind of kept everything together.”
August was just 70 years old when he suddenly passed, on Sept. 24, 2023. He was a long-time member of the BIG ARTS Concert Band, Maureen explained. He started as an instrumentalist, until he was named the associate director, before his director’s retirement in 2019, when he was named the new director.
“There were over 650 people at his funeral in Michigan,” Maureen said. “Then I had another memorial down here [in Sanibel], in January, and there were probably 75 to 100 people that came to that… He touched a lot of people with his joy for music.”
Calkin said she decided to take the position of director, after 33 years of directing high school marching bands and retiring, because now band manager, Dennis Berry, convinced her to meet with Maureen. “He [Dennis] said ‘Maureen is hell-bent on keeping this band alive’,” Calkin said. “In his honor.”
“Music is so important in people’s lives… It’s so important to share joy through music,” Maureen said. “My husband, that was what his goal was, was to share joy and to empower people with music… So I feel like that’s my way to honor him and to keep this part of him alive, because it’s the only way.”
After many meetings of talking about each others’ goals, Calkin stepped up to the plate, to continue August’s mission of bringing the joy of music to the Sanibel community.
“I’m so excited for her to be our director. She’s got such enthusiasm and she says ‘I think band directors are cut out of the same piece of cloth, so I know your husband through that’,” Maureen said. “I think she’s going to bring that welcoming joy because that’s how my husband was.”
Calkin said she has never directed adults, but can tell the small group has passion. She also had a good foundation set by August, as he had already planned out all the music for the next concert season.
“I took on the music and the scores, because he knew best what they could handle playing wise,” Calkin said. “These are people who really love making music… they’re very devoted and dedicated to it, so I’m looking forward to it.”
The band will be rehearsing at the United Church of Christ, at 2050 Periwinkle Way, every Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., starting on Oct. 21. Calkin said after just three rehearsals they will have their first performance on Veteran’s Day, at 11 a.m. in Sanibel City Hall, 800 Dunlop Road– following shortly after, their holiday concert will take place on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Christensen Performance Hall, at 900 Dunlop Road, in collaboration with the BIG ARTS chorus. (Holiday Concert tickets here)
Bachman, who has been a part of the band since its inception, said she was excited about the band’s return because BIG ARTS gave her the motivation to join other community bands in Fort Myers and up North, where she lives in the summer, but none are quite like the Sanibel band.
“I have other groups, so I was still playing, but the Sanibel group holds a very special place in my heart,” Bachman said. “I’ve been there from the beginning, I’ve seen it grow.”
At the start, the vetted clarinet player said she was nervous to join a group, after so many years of not playing, until she realized when she joined, in 2003, that most of the members were in a similar situation, which motivated her.
“I realized most everyone was revisiting their instrument,” she said. “So I did start playing [again] and that beginning changed my life, profoundly.”
The BIG ARTS concert band is constantly on the lookout for new musicians, but this season, there is a particular need for trumpet and flute players, Calkin said. If you are interested in joining the concert band, please send your inquiry to her at melissa.calkin@gmail.com or to band manager, Dennis Berry, at denniswayneberry@yahoo.com.
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