Community Band Concert Set for Dec. 7

Conductor Brian Swart and the Hamilton County Community Band are busy preparing for their annual Christmas concert.  Hamilton Heights High School will host the program at 5 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2025, in the High School Auditorium.  This annual tradition is always a great way to kick off the holiday season with family and friends.

The concert is free to the public and will feature familiar holiday gems like Robert Allen’s “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays”, “Feliz Navidad”, arranged for concert band by Chris Sharp, and Gustav Holst’s “A Holst Christmas”.  The program will wrap up with “Stars and Stripes for Christmas”, a Robert E. Foster arrangement based on the famous John Philip Sousa march.

Two guest conductors will take the podium this year.  Mark Sands, a recently retired music educator from Westfield Schools will be conducting Steve Reistetter’s “The Eight Candle:  Prayer and Dance for Hanukkah”.  Charlie Hartman who recently graduated with a master’s in music performance degree from Ball State University will be conducting “Selections from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”.

The Hamilton County Community Band (HCCB), with 80-plus volunteer members, was formed on February 25, 2018, in a meeting between current director, Brian Swart, Eric Thornbury, and Marc Feeney. These three men saw a need for a true community concert band in Hamilton County. “Our mission is to have a “FUN” atmosphere that is inviting to all musicians,” says Swart. HCCB performs multiple concerts in and around the Hamilton County area. Rehearsals are held weekly on Sunday evenings at Hamilton Heights Middle School.