Age is no barrier for new amateur musicians at the Tucson New Horizons Band. Though the band advertises “adults age 50ish+,” it will take anybody who can play an instrument or wants to learn.
“We do have a few younger than that in our group,” says Matt Williams, the band’s director and an assistant professor at the University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music. “It’s listed mostly just so people know what to expect, not to serve as a barrier.”
The band, founded in 2018, is “a local program of the New Horizons International Music Association, which aims to provide entry points to music making for adults,” Williams added.
The band welcomes all abilities. Band members range from complete beginners who have never picked up an instrument to those who played early in life and want to return to playing to a few who are “proficient musicians but want to learn a new instrument.”
“I often tell our members that our motto is, ‘your best is good enough,’” Williams notes.
Members must provide their own instruments, which can be rented or purchased at local music stores. Tuition is $80 per semester; financial assistance may be available.
Rehearsals are from 3 to 5 p.m. Sundays during the academic year at the School of Music on the University of Arizona campus, 1017 N. Olive Road.
An informational meeting will be held in Room 170 of the School of Music on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1:30 p.m. RSVP at tinyurl.com/newhorizonsband. For people with intermediate or advanced musical abilities, the first rehearsal follows at 3 p.m.
For more information, contact Matt Williams at mlwilliams@arizona.edu or 520-621-3394.
