Community Band Cut After 127 years

Date: March 5, 2010

The County of Hawaii is planning to fire its entire band which has been in existence since 1883. These musicians are among our community's finest and are the very musicians hired by our local choral groups when instrumental accompaniment is required. We've already lost the Honolulu Symphony due to bankruptcy. The Hawaii County Band however, has been fully funded by County taxpayers, but overzealous administrators have decided that unilaterally cutting 1% of the Parks & Recreation budget is the onyl way to balance the operating budget! We need to flood the office of Mayor Billy Kenoi and the Hawaii County Council members with letters and emails of advocacy and support to fund the band in its entirety.

Please go to Facebook and type in Hawaii County Band to read more and access names and addresses. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Mahalo nui loa,

Michael Springer

Kamehameha Schools Hawai'i Campus

Choral Music Director

16-716 Volcano Road

Kea'au HI 96749

mispring(a)ksbe.edu

Reply >>

Robert Reck on March 6, 2010 1:54am

It might be prudent, in this day and time, to provide either another possible funding source or suggest another area of the budget that could be cut. Budgeting is all about priorities and you must show that the community band is a higher priority than some other expenditure. I have no idea how difficult it would be to do this, but I wish you luck.

With your permission, I would like to forward your post to the Community Music list...

John Howell on March 6, 2010 9:53am

Hi, Michael. You omitted several things that are rather important. Is this a band with paid membership? And has the County been paying those salaries? Is it a union band, operating under a union contract? Or is it a volunteer band, as are virtually ALL community bands across America? (Although if it were all-volunteer, I don't quite see how it could have a budget of 1% of the Parks & Recreation budget! And when you say the band will be "fired" you imply that the band members are indeed County employees--or are you simply exaggerating?)

Very few, if any, "Community" Bands in the U.S. have the luxury of continuing part-time employment by their local governments!!!! And of course, since the same is true of community choruses, I must point out that you will probably get just a little less sympathy here than you would on lists like the Community Music List. Our own Community Band and Community Orchestra are recognized by our Town Government and therefore by Parks & Recreation AND by our County school system, but the actual financial line items they get are barely enough to purchase a few new sets of music each year.

But Robert is exactly correct. Politicians are driven by PERCEIVED needs, and are manipulated by those who best pesent the perception of need, NOT by tradition, or what "we've always done," just because it IS what has been done in the past by past Councils. (And just how long is "always," in fact?) So what you need to do is two things: (1) work up a presentation with lots of facts and figures and little emotion to SHOW your Council why they should not drop the band, and (2) develop a fallback position so that the band can continue its existence without governmental financial support, although with governmental moral support.

All the best,

John

Stephen Fuller on March 6, 2010 12:19pm

I was once the choral director at UH-Hilo, and know what a vital role the Hawaii County Band has played on the Big Island. Cutting the total funding for this band is a terrible idea, and I hope that such short-sighted move can be subverted! Yes, these are tough times, but areas should not cut out important cultural institutions such as this. Good luck! You have my utmost support.

Dr. Stephen Fuller

1314 Westwind Rd

St. Cloud, MN 56303

sfuller(a)stcloudstate.edu

Pauline Aridas on March 8, 2010 7:15am

Per John's suggestion on a factual, emotion-less presentation.... Can you tie anything to the public schools' music program -- i.e. children have a place to "intern" with, do summer sessions, appear at state-run functions as free entertainment (dinners, fund-raisers), or complement county events? Might be good PR for both groups, and showcase events look great on a college application.

Reply >>

You must log in or register to be able to reply to this message.

Join Today!

Most recent activity

Repertoire questions and discussions: You're A Grand Old Flag (1)
Choral discussions: Congregation Hymn singing (21)
Repertoire questions and discussions: Good Closer?
Repertoire questions and discussions: Slightly Impossible Gloria Question (10)
Rehearsal and performance management: rehearsal/part recordings
Repertoire questions and discussions: Ash Wednesday Music (11)
Choral discussions: Technology in the High School Choral Classroom (5)
Repertoire questions and discussions: Palm Sunday Anthem with drums (4)
Rehearsal and performance management: Major behavior issues in MS choirs (14)
Repertoire questions and discussions: The Key of F bugaboo (24)