Bill Buzza directs the Edward Little High School concert band during Monday’s rehearsal at the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at Edward Little High School on Harris Street in Auburn. The center will be open to the public for the first time Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for the ELHS Music Department’s winter concert, featuring performances by the concert and jazz bands as well as the concert, treble, chamber and a cappella choirs. “There is not a bad seat in the house,” Buzza said about the center that seats 1,200 people.

Stephanie Kochis plays the saxophone Monday during the Edward Little High School concert band’s rehearsal in the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at the school in Auburn.

Students shuffle sheet music Monday during band rehearsal at the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at Edward Little High School in Auburn. Both band and choir members will perform Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for the ELHS Music Department’s winter concert. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

For the first time, violinist Anthony Walker walks Monday into the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at Edward Little High School in Auburn. Members of the concert band have been rehearsing in the band room. The public is invited to the ELHS Music Department’s winter concert Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the school on Harris Street.

A rack of cables is stored backstage Monday in the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at Edward Little High School in Auburn.

The Edward Little High School concert band rehearses Monday in the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at the school on Harris Street in Auburn. The center seats 1,200 people and will be open to the public for the first time Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for the ELHS Music Department’s winter concert. It will feature performances by the concert and jazz bands as well as the concert, treble, chamber and a cappella choirs.

Freshman trumpet player Josh Lampron performs Monday during concert band rehearsal in the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at Edward Little High School in Auburn.

Bill Buzza directs the Edward Little High School concert band during Monday’s rehearsal at the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at Edward Little High School on Harris Street in Auburn. The center will be open to the public for the first time Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for the ELHS Music Department’s winter concert. It will feature performances by the concert and jazz bands as well as the concert, treble, chamber and a cappella choirs. Buzza said he didn’t know if the center would be open before Christmas so Tuesday’s concert does not have a holiday theme.

“This has been two years in the making,” band director Bill Buzza said Monday about the first day students could be in the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at Edward Little High School in Auburn. “It’s a gem for the community, that’s for sure,” Buzza said.

Percussionist Matthew Morrison rehearses Monday with the Edward Little High School concert band in the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center at the school in Auburn.

Edward Little High School students rehearse Monday in the Donald M. Gay Performing Arts Center for the ELHS Music Department’s winter concert. It was their first time using in the 1,200-seat center at the school in Auburn. The center will be open to the public Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for the winter concert.