Forty years. The Plano Community Band has been making music for 40 years and is celebrating all season. We started rehearsals for our 2018-19 concert season, and I can’t remember the band ever sounding better at this point in the season. New music, new members, returning good friends and a line up of three exciting and entertaining programs has us all rehearsing with excitement and energy. The beautiful Eisemann Center for Performing Arts will again be our venue for these concerts.

The first concert will feature world-renowned virtuoso trumpet player and recording artist Wayne Bergeron. Wayne shares a special friendship with the PCB after making a cameo appearance on the stage with us at last summer’s Texas Bandmasters Association concert in San Antonio. We were fortunate enough to talk him into coming to Plano to share his artistry and incredible talent with our ensemble and audience to help celebrate our 40th anniversary. This will be a unique opportunity for both the audience and the band to be treated (literally – it’s free) to an exceptional musical experience.

For our second concert we will again be partnering with the outstanding McKinney Community Band and their excellent conductor Jeremy Kondrat. Last season’s first-ever joint concert was an unqualified success. The audience was wonderful and the musicians were thrilled to share the stage, compare experiences, and “strut their stuff” for each other. Was there maybe even a tiny hint of competition? After all, none of us can really forget our high school “band contest” days, can we?

Our third formal concert this season will be on April 28th and is “Directors’ Choice.” It will feature great works for concert band that have over the years been favorites of mine and associate conductor Jim Carter. Also, as has been our tradition, we will feature the conductors and music from the middle schools selected for our Music for Life community outreach program.

We sincerely hope you will join us for all three concerts as we celebrate 40 years of making music.

–Joe Frank, Jr.