Municipal Band Plays On In St. Charles

The St. Charles Municipal Band has a long history of making music for the people of the city.

"The band goes back to 1870," said Earl Kreder, alto saxophone player and president of St. Charles Municipal Band Inc. "It was a small brass band and the first record we have of them performing was at a July 4 parade in St. Charles."

One-hundred-and-forty-one years later, you can find the band performing its annual Summer Concert Series at 8 p.m. Thursday nights through August at Frontier Park on the St. Charles riverfront. The performances are free and visitors are allowed to bring picnic baskets, lawn chairs and blankets.

"It continued as a small group of eight to 10 men through the 19th century. The name has changed over the years," Kreder said. "In the early stages people joined by word of mouth. In the late 1800s a lot of musicians worked for the St. Charles Car Company. As people came to town to work at the factory they found out about the band. In later years the directors would invite musicians to join."

Today the band boast a membership of more than 40 musicians, including a clarinet player who has been with the group for 60 years. Kreder joined the band in the '60s while in high school.

"Typically one or two people will join every year and two to four will drop out," he said. "We don't have a real high turnover."

Nancy Garza joined the band in 1978 as a clarinet player. She became its director in 1993. She taught vocal and instrumental music in elementary, junior high and high school for many years.

"I've always loved music. I love the community band idea. My husband was in the Municipal Band in high school. When we moved back to St. Charles he got back in the band and I came along," she said.

In addition to the weekly summer concerts, the band performs a spring concert and three holiday shows at the end of the year. They also perform at Riverfest, the Festival of the Little Hills and on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

"We do about 28 to 30 concert events a year," Kreder said. "We're off in January, September and October. We start rehearsals in February for the spring concert."

Affiliated with the Municipal Band is the Community Big Band, which was formed in 1999. This group performs the second Sunday night each month during the summer in Frontier Park.

The Municipal Band's biggest project is the summer series, which runs for 13 weeks beginning in June. "We do eight to 10 numbers a night and they're all different except for the Star Spangled Banner," Kreder said.

 The band will go through around 120 songs in those 13 weeks and that requires some planning. "I plan as I go along," Garza said. "I'll have the first three-or-four worked out before the season starts."

While they do perform a few shows each year with a central theme -- a patriotic concert for July 4, a children's concert in June and an audience favorites concert to close the series -- Garza would rather avoid theme shows.

"I prefer concerts where if you don't like one piece you might like the next one," she said. "Variety is important. There should be something for everyone at every concert."

For more information on the St. Charles Municipal Band visit www.stc-muny-band.com.