The Clayton Community Band

The Clayton Community Band has become a mainstay of Clayton’s year round entertainment at the Clayton Opera House, where the Band proudly performs as its Resident Ensemble. Under the direction of Gloria Hvizdos Musser, the Clayton Community Band was formed in the summer of 2004 in honor of her late husband, Willard I. Musser. All of its members and conductor are volunteers, and this dedicated and committed ‘family’ of musicians works very closely together to share its love of making music. Now in its eighth season, the Band continues to grow in membership with approximately sixty members encompassing a wide range of ages, and represents eighteen communities from the North Country and beyond. Every Tuesday evening from the beginning of March through mid-December, music from the Band resounds from within the Clayton Opera House. Nearly all of our performances have been benefit concerts, with thousands of dollars of total proceeds going to the Thousand Islands Performing Arts Fund and to charities and organizations such as Hospice of Jefferson County. The concerts are accessible to all, and any student accompanied by an adult is always admitted free. The Band’s concerts continue to encompass music which appeals to the Band members and to their audiences. Gloria and her late husband, Willard I. Musser, had a great love for the St. Lawrence River and the community of Clayton. Together they composed “March St. Lawrence” and dedicated it to the people of Clayton. This piece has become a popular signature piece for the Band.