Auburn Community Concert Band
The Auburn Community Concert Band is currently preparing for its 31st anniversary season. Since 1982, the band has been presenting free weekly concerts in downtown Auburn throughout each summer season. These concerts take place every Wednesday evening at Festival Plaza on Main Street, one block south of Great Falls Plaza. This summer’s concerts are scheduled for June 13 through August 22. Concert times are 7:00 to 8:15 p.m., and ample free parking is available in the parking garage across the street. In case of inclement weather, performances will take place inside the Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch, located one block North, in Great Falls Plaza.
A free holiday concert is offered to the public each December. This past year, the performance took place on Wednesday, December 21st, inside the Olin Arts Center Auditorium at Bates College in Lewiston.
 Conductor and Director Milt Simon is a graduate of Boston University's School of Music. He studied trumpet and conducting with members of the Boston Pops and Boston Symphony Orchestras. After moving to Maine, Mr. Simon announced the formation of the community band during the Fall of 1981, and 18 area residents responded! Most of these individuals had not played their instruments since their high school days 30 to 40 years prior. Simon named the group the Auburn Community Concert Band and, for the first several seasons, audiences at their summer concerts numbered from 50 to 75 people.
Today, the organization averages 45 to 50 volunteer musicians, and the band's summer outdoor concerts typically attract an average of 300 to 400 people every week.
Band members range in age from their mid-teens to their mid 80's. They reside in and represent some 16 central, southern and coastal Maine communities.
Each Wednesday evening performance offers a different program of music, and always includes well-known songs that are popular with both young and old.
Milt Simon conducts the Auburn Community Concert Band in front of a crowd at Festival Plaza in Auburn on Wednesday. The band, which consists of musicians from 16 Maine communities, performed "Take Two," a concert that featured one song from each of its nine prior Wednesday evening concerts held this summer. Their 11th and final performance of the season will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25. - Daryn Slover/Sun Journal |
Milt Simon, Director
