School of HONK was borne from the collective desire of the greater Somerville community, following the HONK! Festival’s decade of success in Davis Square, to get more involved. The number of people who showed up to the festival and shared stories about how they played the clarinet until 5th grade, always wanted to play the trumpet, or some similar tale was huge.

School of HONK is a teaching band that practices and performs every Sunday afternoon. Inviting young and old, experienced players and complete novices alike, we’ve arranged all the tunes in our repertoire to have simple parts that brand new players can play their very first day along with lines to grow into as they get more comfortable on their horns. Mentor players, also ranging in musical experience, are there every week to welcome and support newcomers in getting up and running on their horn during practice, but the real fun every week is the parade. Whether it’s your first week or your hundredth, we perform every Sunday, taking our tunes on the road for a sidewalk parade and stationary set in a nearby plaza or park.

We believe everyone is a musician and that one of the miracles of street band culture is its radical inclusivity. The boundary between performer and audience member is always blurry with a street band, and at School of HONK, we want to completely it.