Around 100 musicians gather together each spring to participate in the Starkville/MSU Community Band.
The community band is comprised of musicians throughout the MSU community, as well as the Golden Triangle. The only requirement to join is previous music experience since this is not a group for beginning musicians.
The band houses a diverse range of musicians from previous members of the MSU Famous Maroon Band, to band directors from local schools. The band staff also invites high school students who are at least 15 years old with one or more years of band experience to join, although their band director’s permission is required. 
This spring ensemble meets Mondays for two hours and performs in two different concerts during the semester. The first concert of the season was Feb. 18, and the last concert was April 8. 
Director of the MSU Community Band Craig Aarhus said despite the age difference, students and community members are able to connect during a break time during rehearsal.
“The adults love getting to know the kids, and the kids love to learn from the adults,” Aarhus said. “Both groups would likely not encounter each other any other way, but they all share the same passion: to make music.”
Aarhus said the community band started in 2003 as an outgrowth of the band program. Since there were not enough students to create a third concert band, Aarhus said he believed with students and the community combined, there would be enough musicians to warrant the need for a community band.
“Being in a university town where there are a lot of people with a lot of backgrounds, we have enough talents to sustain a community band with this type of model so people can continue to practice music, even if it is not their profession,”Aarhus said.
Associate Director Clifton Taylor said the community plays a wide variety of music, ranging from typical band pieces, marches, transcriptions of orchestral literature and medley of popular literature from Broadway or movies.
Taylor said they pick the music based on the personnel of the band and what they enjoy rehearsing and performing, as well looking to see what the audience would enjoy listening to.
Taylor said the community band is a unique way the community can come together and learn from one another.
“It is a social experience as much as it is a musical experience for those who do it. Band People like to commune with people who do what they do,” Taylor said. “In addition to the sitting down and playing music together, it is like a family reunion where everyone can visit together. They will rehearse and take a break where they can have a social time to eat and time.”
Aarhus said the group has improved over time, and they have had faithful members who take advantage of the opportunity to perform music since the band started.
“We try to provide a good music experience and social experience,” Aarhus said. “If we do those two things well, people enjoy what they are doing and want to come back.”