As the march “Stars and Stripes Forever” drew to a grand close for the Musicians’ Concert Band’s July 9 concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of the nation’s independence, the more-than-500-person audience was already on their feet, clapping along and dancing along with patriotic anthem.

What the audience might not have known is the Musicians’ Concert Band will most likely never look the same again. The concert band, consisting of college students, local band directors and private teachers, works to fit its instrumentalists’ summer schedules.

“There might be two less saxophones, one more percussionist,” four-year member and trombone player Scott Boyer said. “My perspective, it feels like the group is just a hair different every time you play with them.”

Tuba player Lew Kroner said at the next concert, there would be about six tuba players, so he might venture back to playing the first instrument he learned how to play — the clarinet.

Though the band’s instrumentation shifts with each performance — there are seven bassoons on the roster, and previous concerts have featured up 18 French horns — the group features highly skilled professionals who are there to play free, lively music for a loyal, loving audience.

Typically, the group performs four times a year. This year, they are performing three concerts due to scheduling issues and planned maintenance of Butler Intermediate High School’s auditorium.

Entering its 40th year of performances, Musicians’ Concert Band has been active in Butler since 1986, making it one of the area’s most established community music organizations.

With music director Jeff Kroner at the helm, he has painted images with his baton and the ensemble has painted them with their instruments.

The ensemble commemorated 250 years of freedom with a variety of patriotic anthems, marches and pieces.

The band, which has musicians spanning from ages 16 to the upper 80s, performed the piece “A Portrait of Freedom” written by composer, Stephen Reineke, as a reminder freedom is more than a word. It is a promise handed from one generation to the next.

One song performed by the ensemble, “At Dawn They Slept,” aimed to recreate the peaceful morning in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, when the crashing of chaos and bombings destroyed the serenity and pulled the U.S. into World War II.

A different piece, “The March of the Steel Men” is so old that the sheet music, which came from Duquesne University’s library, had to be scanned. The flutes and the French horns needed to transpose — to perform their parts in different keys — while they played them.

“That’s the musicianship we have,” Jeff Kroner said.

The night before the performance, the Musicians’ Concert Band gathers in Butler Intermediate High School’s auditorium and plays through the concert once.

For the July 9 concert, they only played through one song, “The March of the Steel Men,” twice.

Though the music is sent out two weeks in advance, Jeff Kroner guesses many have never seen the music before the rehearsal.

“Many of (the musicians) have lives and kids and jobs, and how much they really got to practice before last night is, you know, it’s questionable,” he said. “But the level is exceptional here.”

He estimated that about 75% of the band members are current music teachers, retired ones or music majors preparing to become teachers. The other 25% are people who still love to play music, but not make it the main focus of their careers.

“We’ve got bankers. We have people who own businesses,” he said. “I always joke, the people who wanted to keep music in their lives, but actually make money.”

One saxophonist, Colin Dorcy, is a Butler Senior High School graduate and a junior at West Virginia University studying mechanical aerospace engineering. He was invited to join the Musicians’ Concert Band his senior year of high school.

His college schedule and workload keep him busy, but he has still found ways to keep music in his life.

“I think this is probably the most flexible part of my continuation of music,” Dorcy said.

One hundred percent of the musicians, though, are volunteers, playing for the love of the art.

“(There are) no egos here,” Boyer said. “Everyone is here to serve the group and to serve the song.”

Their audience responds to this professionalism and dedication, often returning to enjoy each of the four yearly performances.

Katie Patterson, a resident at Concordia assisted living, found the performances uplifting.

“I think it is wonderful that they do that, and for no pay,” Patterson said. “It really brings the community together.”

Several of the music teachers within the program relish the opportunity to use summer to return to their roots, playing the instruments they grew up learning to love.

Kroner, who has been a part of the ensemble since 2002 and has worked as a music educator for 11 years, described the band as “musical fulfillment.”

Being a teacher is about helping students grow, coming here is about us, the teachers, growing, Kroner said. “Summer is my moment to switch into being the player rather than the teacher.”

After spending all year in charge of other people’s children, being welcomed on stage with an instrument in hand offers a much needed balm: time dedicated to their own craft.

“It’s fun to go to rehearsal, sight read everything and then hope it all turns out well the next day at the concert,” Boyer said.

Boyer, who teaches at Laurel High School and heard about the program through other music teachers in the area, also said the performances keep him honest.

“If I ask (my students) to do X, Y and Z over the summer to prepare for band camp, why would I not do the same?” he said.

The next Musicians’ Concert Band show will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 23, at Butler Intermediate High School. It will feature guest director Jonathan Helmick, the former director of the Slippery Rock University Marching Pride.