Hot Springs Community Band

The Hot Springs Community Band organization can trace its musical heritage to 1975 when twenty local citizens formed the CSO Senior Citizens Band under the direction of John Melton, a retired Indiana high school band director, and the coordination of Dr. Lamar “Doc” Smith and the Community Service Organization.

Later, the name was changed to the Hot Springs Community Band. In 2005, the name of the band was again changed to the Hot Springs Concert Band to better reflect its expanded repertoire, membership and role in the musical life of the region. 

The award-winning Hot Springs Concert Band (HSCB) from its inception has grown from the twenty local residents into a 60-member band – one of the largest, if not the largest, community bands in Arkansas rehearsing and/or performing year-round. Its members come from more than a dozen communities in central Arkansas, some as far away as driving 70 miles each way to rehearsals and performances. Current members range in age from teenagers to octogenarians. This age diversity brings to the band a wealth of talent and performance experience ranging from eager amateurs to currently working professional musicians and educators to retired band directors and professional music performers.

The Hot Springs Concert Band typically performs nine concerts each year, eight indoor concerts and one outdoor concert, in venues in Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village. Audiences range from 650 (indoor) to over 1,000 (outdoor). Each of the four summer series concerts has a theme from which the music selection is planned around.

The Hot Springs Concert Band has earned the coveted Hot Springs “Tourism Organization of the Year” award. The band has commissioned three pieces, performed at two U.S. Naturalization ceremonies, played for Hot Springs National Park’s 175th anniversary, and hosted three national band conventions. It also sponsored a bi-annual national composition competition and sponsors an annual student scholarship program.

In July of 2005, the HSCB was honored with an appearance at the Arkansas Bandmasters Association summer convention in Little Rock. Band conductor Dr. Craig Hamilton took this opportunity to showcase the merits of a community band as a venue for Arkansas students to continue performance experiences through their adult years. On July 29, 2009, the band did a repeat performance at the Arkansas Bandmasters Association summer convention in Little Rock.

The HSCB also has been the subject of a program on Arkansas Public Radio that showcased the community band as a part of the state’s artistic life.

Since John Melton’s retirement in 1986, the HSCB has had several directors, including Alva Appling, Don Allen, and Julian Herring. In 1999, Craig Hamilton was selected as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor.

This past April, Dr. Hamilton retired after 25 years leading the band. His contributions to the band were immense and he left a legacy that is continuing through a seamless transition into the band’s 50th anniversary in 2025. Current band conductors Jim Lloyd and Claude Smith are leading the band’s 49th season with the same quality musicianship, leadership, and enthusiasm that have been traditional hallmarks of the band.