New Horizons Band offers seniors a chance to feel the music

Many members of the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band haven’t touched their instrument since high school. 

Some of them didn’t even play before joining the band, according to Director Eileen Alexander. The former Evergreen and Lakeside band teacher said the group, which is made up of mostly senior citizens, is all about having fun and the love of playing music. 

“Music is our common goal and music is therapeutic, emotionally and mentally. Band friends stick together for a lifetime — it’s just a special bond, people playing music together. That happens in our group, and I'm very proud of the welcoming nature of our people,” Alexander said. 

During the band’s Oct. 19 concert at the Red Lion Inn, the musicians played through a collection of familiar, fun medleys and tunes, with Alexander egging the audience to sing along. The band played music from the musical “Oklahoma!,” the Disney animated films “Aladdin” and “The Little Mermaid” along with the classic film “The Wizard of Oz,” among others.

Betty and Larry Visocan became members of the New Horizons Band shortly after Alexander started a chapter in the valley back in 2010. Betty played confidently through her trumpet solo, while in the low brass section, Larry perfectly hit the staccato notes on his trombone. 

He’s aided by special magnification glasses to read the music, but he’s memorized all of it anyway. Larry’s vision started deteriorating right around the beginning of the pandemic, effectively taking him out of playing with the band. 

A veteran, Larry said he got his video magnifier through Veterans Affairs and started seeing a therapist in Kalispell who works with the state’s Blind and Low Vision Services. He said when officials at the VA asked him what he would like to do if he had improved vision, he told them he always used to play music, both in the New Horizons Band and BJ Lupton’s band. 

“That's how they got me this head mounted video magnifier. So it's been good, it's different— it's like learning to read music all over again,” Larry said. “When you're just starting, you can only see a couple measures and you don't read ahead. Well, I'm forced to now, I can't read ahead so much. So I'm trying to do a lot of memorization.”

Being in the band keeps him sharp and that he has made a lot of friends in the group. Betty agrees, whether she is practicing at home with Larry or with the entire ensemble, there’s something about getting lost in the music that can make a bad day good. 

“There’s something about music, it changes your whole day … you have to focus on it so hard that all the bad things, all the things in the future or all the things you did wrong, have to go away, because you have to focus on what you're doing. And when you finish, it's the music that has entered into you and lifts you up — and I love that,” Betty said. 

Director Alexander is at the heart of the band, knowing more than a decade ago that she wanted to start a band for people who were interested in learning to play or who needed an activity in retirement. 

Alexander said she first heard of New Horizon Bands while she was attending a music conference in Chicago in the early aughts. The collection of bands are part of the New Horizons International Music Association, a program founded in New York in 1991, that has since spread across the world.

Alexander moved from the Flathead Valley to Wyoming in order to be closer to her father in his later years of life. After his death, she returned to Montana and knew that in retirement, she wanted to start a New Horizons Band. She remembers the group’s first Christmas concert, which took place underneath a large Christmas tree in the Kalispell mall. 

“They went and had their pictures taken with Santa Claus, and then I had to make about 90 copies for them. And it was just fun,” Alexander said. “It makes them feel young. It makes them vibrant. Age kind of disappears when they come in the door with their instruments.”

The band started gaining traction as more people found out about it. They don’t just allow members 50 and older, younger people can join too. Alexander said it’s been a popular choice in the past for a grandchild to join the band with their grandparent. 

The group began playing more and more concerts, one of their largest every year being the Conrad Mansion’s Fourth of July ice cream social. 

“Every year we played at the Conrad Mansion, and the crowds got bigger and bigger, and the band got bigger, and they played better. And it just grew bigger and bigger, but then came along Covid,” Alexander said. 

Due to the threat of the Covid-19 virus, the band stopped meeting all together for two years during the height of the pandemic. Though they’ve returned to practicing and performing, the band hasn’t rebounded in size as several members have died or dropped out.

One of the greatest parts about the band is the social connections made between members. Alexander remembered a member who died right before the start of the pandemic. She said that he developed melanoma and got a report from his doctor that he needed a procedure that was going to remove a third of his lungs. 

“He made sure that he played the last Christmas concert. It meant so much to him to play his clarinet in that Christmas concert and then have his procedure afterwards,” Alexander said. “And then he started playing his clarinet in recovery, with a third third less of his lungs. He eventually died. But, it was something that helped him to hang on and gave him purpose.” 

The goal is to make it enjoyable for all the musicians involved. So, Alexander selects fun showtunes, music from popular movies and from the 50s and 60s, that she knows her band will have a good time playing. 

As the Red Lion Inn concert came to a roaring conclusion at the end of a tribute to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, it is evident that the New Horizons Members are not the only ones having fun. 

There’s no need to have prior experience playing music to join the group. Returning to her roots as a music and band teacher for decades, Alexander has a beginner’s band where she teaches the basics. Band members can find an instrument or assistance can be provided to rent or purchase one. 

The group rehearses every Thursday at Snappy’s from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. from September through the beginning of December. 

For more information, contact Alexander at egsaxa@hotmail.com or call 406-260-8539. 

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.

 Betty Visocan plays the trumpet during the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band concert Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)
 

 Laurieanne Stewart plays the flute with the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band during their fall concert Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)
 

 Kurt Reimer plays the trumpet during the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band concert Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)
 

 Jamey Rhodes plays the saxophone during the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band concert Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)
 

 The Flathead Valley New Horizons Band plays during its Fall Family Pops Concert on Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. The band is directed by Eileen Alexander and focuses on providing an opportunity for adults to learn to play music. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)
 

 Dave Mosby plays the triangle as part of the percussion section during the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band concert Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)
 

 Neil Lawrence plays the tuba with the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band during their fall concert Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)
 

 Joe Clark on the drums during the Flathead Valley New Horizons Band concert Oct. 19 at the Red Lion in Kalispell. (Heidi Desch/Daily Inter Lake)