The Lebanon Community Concert Band

In 1992, the Lebanon Musicians Local 401-750 founded the Lebanon Community Concert Band as a performance opportunity for both professional and nonprofessional musicians. Since that time, the Lebanon Community Concert Band has lived up to its “community” name, supporting many patriotic, fund-raising and awareness-building events through its music. Its annual concerts for the Harmonia Music Society have raised thousands of dollars in music scholarships. It also raises money for the Senior Center of Lebanon Valley through concerts performed several times a year at that facility. It has performed for a breast cancer walk, the Moving Vietnam Wall, and other community advocacies.

Each year since 2002 on September 11, the band performs its annual Patriot Day concert inside the auditorium of Lebanon High School to capacity audiences. The band also performs on Flag Day and Veterans Day.

        The band’s first conductor was Fred Erdman, a noted musician who led many concert bands during his lifetime, most notably the Palmyra Legion Band, the area’s premier concert band during the 1940s and 1950s. Succeeding Mr. Erdman was Russell Schneck, a clarinetist and retired instrumental music teacher in the Central Dauphin school district. He was followed by Charles Kreis, the band’s principal trombonist at that time and a retired instrumental music teacher in the New York state public school system. The band is presently led by Timothy Erdman.

The Lebanon Community Concert Band mentors young aspiring musicians while fostering the performance of live music. Much of its library includes arrangements that pre-date World War I and are considered benchmarks in the concert band repertoire. Many selections have been donated by friends of the band, called “score angels.” If you would like to have a score purchased in your name, please contact our librarian, Bish Wolf, at 272-8844. As of September 2007 the band is a 501(C)3 non-profit corporation. Your contributions are tax deductible. 

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