Meet Our Conductor and Members

Our Mission and Vision

The mission of the Newton-Conover Community Band is to assemble members of the community who play brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments to form a musical ensemble (band), to rehearse with this ensemble a selected program of band/wind music, and to perform that music in a public concert.

Membership in the Community Band is not restricted by age, race, color, economic status, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, or political beliefs or affiliations.  The band is open to anyone, from high school age players to senior citizens, that have experience on traditional concert band/jazz band instruments.

Even though performing a concert is the mission, meeting together and experiencing the joy of making music with others is our true goal.

History and Information

In 2005, the City of Newton (NC) celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding with the Sesquicentennial Celebration.  Jim Stockner, the Band Director at Newton-Conover High School, sponsored an alumni band for graduates of the high school during the celebration.  The alumni band was so well received by the former students and the public that it was decided to keep the band going.  This was the birth of the Newton-Conover Community Band.

The community band sponsors a concert band and a jazz band.  Except for during the Covid Pandemic, the groups have rehearsed and publicly performed every year since 2005.

Jim Stocker was the founder and lead the band from 2005 to 2016.  During this period the band had many guest conductors, including Nickey Horner, Jack Horner, Brian Benton, and Haskew Smith.  Jim stepped down from leading the band in 2016.  Brian Benton, a former Assistant Band Director in the Newton-Conover City Schools, was at the helm from 2016 to 2018.

In 2018, Brian moved to the coast of NC.  Ted Neely (retired Catawba County Schools band director) and Haskew Smith (then Band Director at Newton-Conover High School) took over the running of the community concert band in 2019.  They were joined by Nickey Horner (then Band Director at Maiden High School), who took over the directorship of the community jazz band.

The traditional season for the band was in the Spring of the year.  The band added a fall performance season in 2023.