The Plano Community Band is a volunteer organization made up of approximately 70 musicians from all walks of life who share a passion for music. The band performs two Spring concerts and a Fall concert each year at the beautiful Eisemann Center in Richardson, but is best known for its Summer concerts at Haggard Park, in old downtown Plano. The Summer Series begins the first Monday in June, and performances at the park continue every other Monday evening for a total of five concerts. The band has themes for each concert including kids’ night, big band and a patriotic concert.

The band is a nonprofit organization sponsored in part by the Plano Cultural Arts Commission. The band is also supported by John Paul II High School, member dues and from generous donors in the community. There is never an admission charged for any of the band’s public performances.

The Plano Community Band is a proud member of the Association of Concert Bands, an international organization dedicated to the advancement of adult community bands. The band has performed at several of their national conventions as well as hosted the conventions in 1992 and 2010, and recently performed at the 2022 convention in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The PCB also hosted the 2024 Regional Convention at Richardson High School in June 2024.

Thomas Keck serves as Director of the Division of Music in the SMU Meadows School of the Arts, where he is the chief academic and administrative officer of the division. Prior to this, Keck served as Chair of the Department of Music at Utah Valley University and had over twenty years of faculty experience as Director or Associate Director of Bands at the Universities of Georgia, Miami, New Hampshire, Ball State, and Utah Valley. In these roles, he oversaw concert and athletic band programs while mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

Keck has conducted at regional conferences of the CBDNA and NAfME in addition to high school all-state engagements. He held the unique distinction of being the first conductor to have their concert ensemble and marching band be invited to perform for the membership of the CBDNA in the same year. Keck has guest conducted the US Army Field Band, the US Air Force Band of the Golden West, and has served as Assistant Conductor of the Greater Miami Symphonic Band. He has appeared with university and high school ensembles throughout the United States, Bahamas, Bermuda, Haiti, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and China.

Keck is a published author in nine volumes of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, the leading compendium of wind band repertoire. Keck is also a contributing author to the recent rehearsal techniques textbook, What Would You Do? An Anthology and Methodology for the Development of Rehearsal Techniques for Band, and the leading marching band methods textbook, The System. For 25 years, Keck was a director and collegiate conducting curriculum designer at the Smith-Walbridge Clinics, the first summer training program for high school and college drum majors.

Keck holds a terminal degree in conducting from Arizona State University and music education degrees from the Universities of Illinois and Iowa. He also earned an M.A. in Higher Education Leadership with a concentration in fundraising leadership from Penn State University. He has twice received the National Band Association Citation of Excellence and was included in the 20th annual School Band & Orchestra magazine 50 Directors Who Make a Difference. 

Plano Community Band’s Associate Conductor, Business Manager, and Event Coordinator, was born in Texas City, Texas, and has made Plano his home since 1969, going through the Plano schools and the band program at Plano Senior High. During his high school days, Jim was privileged to have played with Doc Severinsen and Alan Vizzutti, and his first love always seemed to be jazz. After graduation, he was selected to play with the National Bandmasters Association Jazz Band, performing with Marvin Stamm at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Jim attended Sam Houston State University on a music scholarship, receiving his degree in Music Education in 1991. While at Sam Houston, Jim studied under Dr. Fisher Tull, Dr. Gary Sousa and Dr. Rod Cannon. Jim also headed up the recording and archiving of concert performances and was a member of Kappa Kappa Psi. After teaching a couple of years, Jim returned to Plano and began working in the communications field. He currently holds the position of Director of A/V and Computer Services for the 4,500-member Custer Road United Methodist Church. To keep music in his life, Jim joined the Plano Community Band in 1993 as the baritone saxophone player. Jim also plays with many Dallas-area jazz and big bands. He became the Band’s associate conductor in 1995.