The Raleigh Concert Band

07/07/2024

We are super excited to be a part of this concert series this year! Check us out at Fred Fletcher Park on September 22!

🎶 Join us for our Summer Concert Series at Pullen and Fletcher Parks! Enjoy music from local bands—concerts are FREE! 🎵
We can't wait to see you there! https://bit.ly/3VhPmr7

22/05/2024

Hey everyone!

This summer, The Raleigh Concert Band is ready to bring the magic of live music this summer, and we want YOU to be a part of it! 🎺🎷🎼

Here are a few reasons why you should come out and listen to us:

✨Celebrate Local Talent: Our band is made up of your friends, neighbors, and family members. Supporting us means supporting local talent and fostering a sense of community pride.

✨Family-Friendly Fun: Our concerts are perfect for all ages! Whether you’re bringing your kids, parents, or friends, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

✨Outdoor Venues: Enjoy the beautiful summer weather with our open-air performances. Pack a picnic, bring a blanket, and relax while enjoying live music.

✨Support the Arts: In times like these, the arts need our support more than ever. Your presence helps ensure that we can continue to bring music to our community for years to come.

✨Create Memories: Attending our concerts is not just about the music, it’s about creating lasting memories with loved ones and connecting with the community.

So mark your calendars, spread the word, and come share in the joy of music with us this summer. We can't wait to see you there!

13/05/2024

Welcome to another edition of “Meet the Board”, featuring our amazing treasurer, Kirsten Nielsen!

As treasurer, Kirsten keeps all of the band’s finances running by collecting dues and donations, paying the bills, and meticulously keeping track of it all.

Kirsten has played Trumpet in the Raleigh Concert Band for 11 years. Her favorite piece of music is “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Benny Goodman and his orchestra. She actually marched to a version of this piece in high school, and many of our followers might remember us playing a concert band arrangement of this piece in a past performance!

She would like to thank her parents for encouraging her to play, her brother for introducing her to the trumpet, and all of her many band friends in various ensembles over the decades.

Thanks, Kirsten, for offering your talents and diligent finance skills to the band over the past several years!

06/05/2024

Let’s have a round of applause for our new Member at Large (one of two), elected at last week’s Annual Meeting!

We are lucky to have two members at large, who both serve the band as the point of contact for our members to bring up questions, comments, and concerns to the Board of Directors. She is excited to start working with the board on a variety of topics such as marketing and strategic planning.

Tracie has played tenor saxophone with the Raleigh Concert Band for a year now. She enjoys almost any new piece that she plays, and has a particular fondness for Dvorak’s New World Symphony, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue or Concerto in F, and anything Wagner!

Her high school band director, Carl Bly, was a particularly important musical role model for her, who created an exceptional band program with lots of opportunities for her to grow her love of music and learn the culture of teamwork and building excellence. She also thanks her father for coaching and encouraging her to do her best and go for any goals she had.

We look forward to all that Tracie will accomplish as a member of the Board of Directors and an excellent musician in the Raleigh Concert Band!

17/04/2024

Continuing our “Meet the Board” segment, we’d like to introduce one of our Members at Large, Mike Mills!

As member at large, Mike serves as the liaison between the RCB Board of Directors and the general membership of the band. He ensures that any concerns or ideas the general membership might have make their way to the attention of the board.

Mike has played Trumpet in the Raleigh Concert Band for 2 years now. His favorite classical pieces are any of Bach’s iconic Brandenburg Concertos. (Good luck trying to choose just one!) A particularly inspirational figure in Mike’s musical journey is his high school band director from Lapeer, Michigan, who was also his private trumpet teacher.

Let’s hear it for Mike!

28/03/2024

*Drumroll* 🥁 Introducing the next member of our Board of Directors: Secretary Bailey Harden!

As secretary, Bailey keeps record of rehearsal attendance, shepherds prospective new members through the application process, and is in charge of written communications such as writing up minutes for the board meetings.

Bailey has played clarinet in the Raleigh Concert Band for 9 years and while she couldn’t possibly pick a favorite piece she has performed, in general, she likes playing any piece that’s fast with lots of notes!

Her musical journey could not have started or continued without her father, who was an exceptional trumpet player during his life. She is grateful for him for not only passing along his “musical skills” gene (because trust, it did not come from her mother’s side of the family) but also for his encouragement and example to participate in musical ensembles.

Let’s have a virtual round of applause 👏 for Bailey Harden! Thank you for your meticulous efforts to keep the board and the band organized!

20/03/2024

Meet our librarian, Karen Zeher! As librarian, Karen maintains our vast library of music and makes sure our sheet music and scores are organized and in top condition.

Karen has played saxophone in the Raleigh Concert Band for 32 years but she has been a musician much longer than that. Her father came from a musical family so she and her two sisters started at the very young age of 8. She continued to play through high school and beyond and we’re so lucky she eventually found her way to the Raleigh Concert Band!

As librarian, she has too many classical favorites to pick, but one of her many favorite bands is Pink Floyd! We are grateful for Karen’s organizational and musical talents that she has shared with the RCB for over 3 decades. Thank you, Karen!

07/03/2024

Barb Prillaman has entered the chat! While not an official board position, Barb serves as our honorary Board President Emerita, utilizing her years of experience on the board to advise and provide institutional memory when needed.

Originally a cellist and pianist, Barb has played French horn in the Raleigh Concert Band for 16 years. Some of her favorite pieces for band and orchestra include “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” by Ralph Vaughan Williams and “American Overture” by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins. The latter was her audition piece for the RCB 16 years ago!

She credits many people in her life with helping her become the musician she is today including her parents and late sister, who always supported her musical adventures even when the sound was not exactly…palatable. She also credits her long time piano teacher, Marvin Williams, who gave her a solid grounding in church and secular music and taught her the elusive balance of hard work and having fun that music can provide.

The Raleigh Concert Band is grateful for all the support Barb gives us and the institutional knowledge she graciously shares. Thank you, Barb!

05/03/2024

Vernon Janke has served in several roles during his many years in the Raleigh Concert Band. Currently, he serves as our Equipment Committee Chairman! He tracks and maintains all of the various equipment and instruments that the band owns to make sure we look and sound our best. And he is the perfect man for the job, since he has played percussion with us for 24 years!

One of Vernon’s fondest band memories is a performance of The Lion King, the last half of which was played in the pouring rain! Sounds like a real Hakuna Matata moment! He considers his high school band director to be his most influential musical role model.

Thank you, Vernon, for making sure our equipment is in top-top shape, and for your cool and steady rhythms that drive our music!

01/03/2024

Up next on our “Meet the Board” journey is Rick Guptill, our Band Historian!

Rick has played Tuba in the RCB for over 45 years. He is one of the band’s charter members! As band historian, Rick stores, preserves, and digitizes past band records. If you’ve got a question about a past performance, this is the man to talk to!

One of Rick’s favorite memories on his musical journey was joining the top band at ECU (as a History Major!), a wonderful learning experience. His favorite pieces to perform and listen to are anything by Gustav Holst. Impossible to pick just one!

Thank you, Rick, for keeping the traditions and history of the Raleigh Concert Band alive and well!

27/02/2024

Let’s take a moment to meet and appreciate the folks on our Board of Directors! First up, our Vice President, Jerry Sawyer!

Jerry has played clarinet in the Raleigh Concert Band for 22 years. As Vice President, he makes sure our rehearsal space is efficiently set up and cleaned up each week and serves as backup to the President as needed. He also makes sure we are all looking snazzy and professional with our RCB polo shirts!

Jerry’s favorite orchestral piece is Mozart’s clarinet concerto in A major. Give it a listen! His most important figures in his musical journey have been his mother, who encouraged him to be in the band, and his grandfather who was a band leader.

Thank you for all you do for the RCB, Jerry!

01/02/2024

As Band Historian, I'm currently scanning hard copy records. One of our more interesting July 4th performances was in 1990. As you can see from the attached clip, it didn't go very well.

Rick Guptill

17/12/2023

Another day of the season and another office view, The Raleigh Concert band at the beautiful new performance space at Glenaire in Cary. It is a wonderful place to play and the band sounded really good with the possible exception of the announcer.

16/12/2023

Here it is, I thought we had less space. All I have to say is my band fits! Mostly... Apologies to some percussion and the bass trombones (probably for the better on the latter as it'll muffle their loudness)

11/12/2023

There’s no place like a Raleigh Concert Band performance for the holidays! Join us in the brand new auditorium at Glenaire Retirement Community at 3pm on December 16th for some holiday fun!

ADDRESS: 6000 Glenview Garden Place, Cary, NC 27511

08/12/2023

Office view on Thursday evening for the Governor's Tree Lighting ceremony at the State Capitol. Awesome bone section of the Raleigh Concert Band. Photo by Tracie Thomas.

01/12/2023

Join us at the State Capitol Building with Governor Roy Cooper for the annual tree lighting on Dec. 12 at 5:30! Be on the lookout, we heard Santa might stop by too!

01/11/2023

We are excited to perform for you! Come see us on November 11 at 4pm at Covenant Presbyterian Church, Wendell, NC! See you there!

15/06/2023

Wishing a very happy birthday to our conductor, Lem Hardy!

14/06/2023

Last weekend we had the honor of participating in the Flag Day Ceremony at the Raleigh Elks Lodge! Check out this WRAL story for more.

Flag Day commeorates the origins of the U.S. flag in 1777. Video taken by WRAL ENG Editor David McCorkle.

12/06/2023

At yesterday’s 6th Annual Triangle Community Band Festival, The Raleigh Concert Band and The Cary Town Band paid tribute to our friend and colleague Al Tice with a “Missing Man” chair. Al was a founding member of the Raleigh Concert Band and long-time associate, and then member, of the Cary Town Band. He passed away unexpectedly in early June.

Over his forty-five years in the RCB, Al served six years as a Member at Large on the RCB Board and two years as Treasurer. He was the longtime clarinet section leader, but was willing to help out wherever he could for the betterment of the band, be it arriving early to set up for rehearsal or concerts, staying late to help tear down the setup, revising bylaws, or simply facilitating discussions with his gentle humor and engineer’s logic.

Al was a gentleman in the literal sense of the word, and we miss him keenly. Rest in peace, dear friend: we’ll honor your legacy by keeping the music going.

10/06/2023

We’re ready!

Come join us and our community band colleagues for the 6th Annual Triangle Community Band Festival this evening starting at 5pm!

Join us as we host the 6th annual Triangle Community Band Festival on June 10 at Durham Central Park!

Enjoy performances by:
Cary Town Band
The Village Band
Holly Springs Community Band
The Raleigh Concert Band
Durham Community Concert Band

Event page: https://m.facebook.com/events/3586547451668769?mibextid=ZbWKwL

04/06/2023

Come join us and our friends from Durham Community Concert Band, Cary Town Band, The Village Band, and Holly Springs Community Band for next Saturday’s 6th Triangle Community Band Festival. First downbeat is at 5pm!

Join us as we host the 6th annual Triangle Community Band Festival on June 10 at Durham Central Park!

Enjoy performances by:
Cary Town Band
The Village Band
Holly Springs Community Band
The Raleigh Concert Band
Durham Community Concert Band

Event page: https://m.facebook.com/events/3586547451668769?mibextid=ZbWKwL

31/05/2023

In the interest of fairness here is the correct perspective on trombones!

31/05/2023

Sometimes, the memes speak for themselves.



https://fb.watch/kSpoLJN92p/

30/05/2023

Today we remember that Freedom is not free. Today we played at the Raleigh National Cemetery for a wreath ceremony. It was a moving ceremony coordinated by American Legion Post #1. One of our trumpet players provided "Taps" as the wreaths were placed.

28/05/2023

Please join us next week at Raleigh National Cemetery as we honor those who died while serving in the United States armed forces.