Music for your soul? If you once were a band member….

From retired members of the U.S. Army Band to current and former music educators to those who hadn’t picked up an instrument since high school or college, the Prince William Community Band counts them all among its more than 65 members. Auditions are not required to join; one just needs to be over 18 and have an instrument.

“Just show up (to rehearsal) and bring an instrument,” said John Cznadel, the band’s associate conductor and retired band director for Saunders Middle School. “We’re happy to give you time to get your chops back.”

The commitment is a flexible one, as musicians can participate in as many concerts as they choose. They just need to show up for the rehearsals for those concerts. The plan is obviously working because, when the music begins, as it did at the band’s sixth annual festival on May 17, it’s magic.

The Prince William Community Band was formed in 1996.

“A former student of mine, Debbie Kahler, came to me and said, ‘If I could find some players to form a community band, would you be willing to conduct?’” said Ed Jones, the band’s conductor. Jones’ musical resume includes 18 years as the band director at Gar-Field High School, several years as the school division’s supervisor of music and band director of Woodbridge Senior High School, the position from which he retired in 1999.

“Pretty soon, [Kahler] called and said they were ready. We put together a folder [of music] and we started. That was July of 1996.” Jones has served as the band’s conductor for most of the band’s history.

“I had to take off in the fall of 1996, 1997 and 1998 for marching band [at WSHS]. It’s been an experience. It’s grown from an average band to what you hear today, thanks to people like [band president] Jack Tilbury who are or were professional musicians and many others.”

Asked what brings people to the band, Jones said, “It’s the enjoyment of playing. I’m 76, and there are a couple of guys older than I. They just love playing. I’m going to do it as long as I can. People come together from different walks of life to make music.’

Tilbury, who retired from the U.S. Army Band nine years ago and joined the community band a year later, said Jones is a master recruiter.

“He runs into former students of his around the community and encourages them to join the band,” he said. “A lot of people in the band are former students of Ed and John (Cznadel) from middle and high school; that’s why the band is so big. Ed knows everybody.”

An example is euphonium player Don Stewart, a former student Jones encountered at a gas station. “I graduated from Gar-Field in 1985,” Stewart said. “I saw Ed at a gas station in 1996 and he said, ‘Hey man, where’s your horn?’ I’ve been [in the band] ever since.”

Admission to the band’s concerts, of which there are at least six a year, is free. To support the band financially, band members pay dues of $20 per year, and the band receives a grant from the Prince William Commission on the Arts. Music and Arts, a local music store, provides in-kind donations of needed equipment.

“We rely on donations,” Tilbury said. “Right now we’re starting to save money for our 20th anniversary in 2016. We want to want to rent the Hylton Center and do a special anniversary concert.”

The band rehearses at Saunders Middle School on Monday evenings from 7:30-9:30 p.m. They’ve been rehearsing at Saunders since Cznadel was its band director. “[The band] needed a better rehearsal space, and I offered space at Saunders,” he said.

The festival on May 17, the Sixth Annual Prince William Community Band Festival, took place at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas and featured performances from the Prince William Beginning Band, the Clarke County Community Band, Brass of the Potomac and the Loudoun Symphonic Winds in addition to the Prince William Community Band.

The festival marked the first performance of the Beginning Band, which is comprised of area home school students.

Next up on the schedule for the Prince William Community Band is the Ice Cream Concert on July 6 at 3 p.m. at the Harris Pavilion. “It will be all-American Music,” Tilbury said. “Patriotic music and Broadway show tunes.”

The band has spawned three ensembles that also perform around the area: the Dunbar Saxophone Quartet, Occoquan Heavy Metal and the Moonlight Jazz Orchestra.

More information on the Prince William Community Band is available on its website http://www.pwcb.org and its Facebook page.