The Peachtree

Wind Ensemble Community Band features many different instruments, including

flutes, trumpets, trombones and clarinets.

Perhaps the

most different instrument in the band, though, is the euphonium.

A euphonium

is a member of the brass instrument family, usually finished with brass

or silver. It has between three and five valves and has the same range

of pitch as a trombone. It looks like a small tuba and sounds like a french

horn. The word euphonium comes from the Greek "euphonia," meaning

well-sounding. The predecessor of the euphonium was an instrument known

as the serpent.

Col. John V.

Barson is the euphonium player for the Peachtree Wind Ensemble. Barson

is an Army physician specializing in aerospace and preventive medicine

who has played the euphonium for over 30 years. He began playing the instrument

in high school and continued in college as a member of the University

of Michigan marching band, which performed in the 1972 Rose Bowl and the

Parade of Roses.

After college,

Barson stopped playing because he did not own his own euphonium, but found

one on an exchange assignment with the Royal Air Force in Farnborough,

England. He found a euphonium that had come from the Royal Irish Rangers'

regimental band at a store in Aldershot. The case still has the band's

name stenciled on it.

Since purchasing

the euphonium, he and the instrument are nearly inseparable. They play

every Monday night with the Peachtree Wind Ensemble, which meets at McIntosh

High School at 7:30 p.m. The group performs a number of concerts around

the community during the year and is always looking for new members.

Back

to the Top of the Page