Columbia Community Band

HISTORY:  The Columbia Community Band (CCB) has afforded lifelong opportunities for adult volunteer concert band musicians to share their talents in Mid-Missouri since 1981. Under the baton of Denis Swope, the band's sixth Director of Music, CCB stages a variety of free concert band performances at local schools, retirement centers and other indoor venues throughout the school year.  Summer concerts are typically performed outside in the tradition of the Early 20th Century band tours of John Philip Sousa. https://ccbonline.org/About/Our-Story

PERFORMANCES:  Three major concerts presented in the David H. Hickman High School Auditorium are themed as the "Sounds of the Seasons" in December, the "Winds of March" in March, and the "Spring Concert" in May.  Other indoor performances include December and May appearances at University of Missouri Commencement ceremonies and a private program for residents of the Lenoir Woods Retirement Community in October.

CCB performs at the Boone County Courthouse for The Military Officers Association of America's Annual Memorial Day Wreath-Laying Ceremony.  Other outdoor summer appearances include a July date for Columbia's Stephens Lake Amphitheater Concert Series, an August concert on the Howard County Courthouse Square for the Annual Fayette Festival of the Arts, and a September performance on the Maplewood Barn Stage in Nifong Park for Columbia's Annual Heritage Festival and Craft Show.

The band rehearses about forty weeks of the year to prepare a robust volume of literature which includes classic compositions for modern wind band, transcriptions of orchestral overtures, traditional marches, novelties, accompaniments to concertos for soloists, and new works for concert band. CCB has commissioned and premiered two new compostions by respected composers:

Silver Jubilee by John Cheetham for the Columbia Community Band's 25th Anniversary in 2006

Columbia by Randall Standridge for CCB's 40th Anniversary in 2021 - the band's first concert after the COVID-19 shutdowns

SERVICE ACTIVITIES:  The Columbia Community Band proudly serves the Columbia Public Schools as an official Partner in Education with the Department of Fine Arts.  CCB's Band Buddies Project provides summer lesson vouchers to young band musicians in the school district, demonstrating our commitment to education and to the continued performance of concert band music. Young students who continue to study music throughout the summer months are more likely to stay in band and perform at a higher level in the fall than those who have not taken or been afforded the opportunity to receive music lessons.

Each year, CCB members serve as room and hall monitors for the MSHSAA State Solo and Small-Ensemble Festival at the University of Missouri where the highest performing high school musicians play for adjudicators from around the state and region.  Also annually, the CCB Board of Directors, as trustees of an endowment, present the Keith E. House Scholarship award to a deserving Mid-Missouri high school student who intends to continue participation in a band-related ensemble in college.

WHY YOUR GIFT MATTERS:  Experiencing music enables a community to express emotions and build a bridge to our history in a way that is unique to the art form.  What comes to your mind's eye when you hear a fife and drum?  Where did you first see a movie scored by John Williams?  Why do you feel the way you do when you hear a performance of Carmen Dragon's arrangement of America the Beautiful?  How does the band's live accompaniment to the animated film, The Snowman, bring the characters to life?  The answers to these questions may be intangible, but they are immeasurably important to our identity through the experiences that we share.

Your CoMoGives donation to the Columbia Community Band helps to preserve the tradition of the concert wind band by ensuring the ongoing performance of the literature, the development and promotion of new music, and the nuturing of young minds who endeavor to pursue the art form. Thank you for your generosity and we hope to see you at our next concert!