The ICC Silver Cornet Band
| 1876 | The “ICC Silver Cornet Band” is shown in a photograph taken by the Daily Camera of eight musicians on a wagon drawn by two oxen. |
| 1898 | The name “Boulder Citizen’s Band” was first used. |
| 1899-1918 | The band was directed by Bill Swartz. |
| 1908 | There was a portable bandshell on sections of wooden plank at 13th and Pearl. Oil burners gave off a red flame for light. (from the Boulder Daily Camera archives) |
| 1914-1918 | During WWI the Band played “at all patriotic occasions, escorted Troop D, Company B and draftsmen to their trains or automobile caravans and otherwise did it’s (sic) fair share of service.” (from the Boulder Daily Camera archives) |
| 1915 | The Band won first prize at the Elks Convention in Pueblo. (from the Boulder Daily Camera archives) |
| 1916 | CU students volunteered to supplement the band members so that the band could play for events honoring Civil War and World War I veterans on Memorial Day. (Ed. note: the regular Band members were paid.) (from the Boulder Daily Camera archives) |
| 1918-1922 | The band was directed by George Oles. |
| 1918 | Band Can’t Blow Horns Because of Flu - “Professor George Oles announces there will be no rehearsal of the Boulder Band tomorrow night because of the Quarantine. It will be said of that meeting that won’t occur that no one blew because of the flu.” Boulder Band Blew Right After the Flu - “The Boulder Band rehearsed last night and will hold another tomorrow night in preparation for the American Legion Memorial services on Sunday. The selections to be played include...” (from the Boulder Daily Camera archives) |
| 1919 | The Band played while riding on a float at the Semi-Centennial Celebration of Silver Mining in Colorado, held at the Boulder County Fair in Longmont. There were a “basket dinner, tug-o-war, baby contest, street dancing, a first aid demonstration by coal miners and a fiddlers’ contest.” The Band also played at the courthouse to promote the city establishing a municipal park. In September the Boulder Daily Camera sponsored a banquet to raise money for the band and honor local “firemen.” (from the Boulder Daily Camera archives) |
| 1920 | President-Elect FDR stated that he liked the band. The band rehearsed twice a week. They were using a room in the engineering building at CU. “A band committee appealed for a higher appropriation for the band of the city council.” This was to be a decision of the “City Manager and Director of Public Welfare”. There was an election upcoming. The Elks Club had a “juvenile orchestra band” which fed into the Band. The Community Sing and Band Concert were held thanks to the “War Camp Community Service”. “The Boulder Band plays popular music, therefore is itself popular. A band supported by the popular purse should play to please the people, not the musicians. Schwartz, leader of the Boulder Band, had that idea. When he died a leader was appointed who stubbornly held to the idea that the sort of music he liked - commonly called classical - was the sort that ought to be fed to the people. The band was not popular. The director was not popular, tho a fine man. He has gone. Oles isn’t making his mistake.” (from the Boulder Daily Camera archives) |
| 1922–1927 | The band was directed by Eliseo Jacoe, an Italian-trained conductor. He is the first conductor of record with formal training, and was known as “The Professor.” He and his wife, Anna, also owned and operated the Jacoe Grocery Store in neighboring Louisville, Colorado, from the 1920s to the 1950s, catering to Louisville’s large Italian population. |
| 1928–1933 | Horace Jones is the director. |
| 1933–1935 | George Oles returns as director. |
| 1936–1956 | Hugh McMillen, Professor of Music at C.U. Boulder, conducted the band. Adults were paid $2 per concert, university students 50¢, and high school students 25¢. |
| 1939 | The name was changed to “The Boulder Band.” |
| 1956 | The band was discontinued due to “unruly” audiences and lack of financial support. |
| 1976–1986 | The “Boulder Concert Band” is reorganized by McMillen, with Charles Kassinger as Associate Conductor, with enough support to enable the band to continue. During these years the band gave four concerts October to May, and four concerts in the summer. The name has remained unchanged since 1976. Since 1976, the band members receive no compensation, but pay dues to participate (currently, $60 per year). |
| 1986–1991 | Richard Culver became the conductor. |
| 1992–1994 | Cynthia Hutton was conductor. |
| 1994–1997 | Thomas Caneva, the Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Colorado, was conductor. |
| 1997–1998 | This transitional season had a different conductor for each of our four concerts. |
| 1998–2000 | Nathaniel Johnson was conductor. |
| 2000–2006 | Brian Hopwood was conductor. |
| 2006–2009 | Randall Coleman was conductor. During this time, we held a Young Conductor Competition, possibly the only one of its kind in the country! |
| 2009-2011 | Zina Richardson was appointed music director and conductor of the Boulder Concert Band. |
| 2011-2013 | Dr. Dana Biggs was conductor and music director. |
| 2013-2014 | Dr. Jeffrey Miller was conductor and music director. |
| 2014 | Matthew Arau and William Kinne were co-conductors for our summer concerts in the parks. |
| 2014-2015 | William Kinne was conductor and music director. |
| 2015-2016 | Peter Lillpopp was conductor and music director. |
| 2016-2017 | Rafael Antonio Rodriguez was conductor and music director. |
| 2017-2019 | Silas Nathaniel Huff was conductor and music director. |
| 2018 | Sandra McMillen Sartin was awarded Honorary Boulder Concert Band Board Member for Life, the first award of its kind in our band’s history. |
| 2019-2023 | Dr. Kenneth Singleton was conductor and music director. The Band took an 18-month hiatus from March, 2020 through August, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We enjoyed two more successful concert seasons under Ken's direction. |
| 2023-present | Mr. Jon Borodach is conductor and music director of the Boulder Concert Band. |
The illustrious history of the Boulder Concert Band traces back to the ICC Silver Cornet Band of 1870, which performed weekly concerts in the pioneer town of Boulder. In 1897, the larger Boulder Citizen’s Band was formed, said to be the best of its type in Colorado. Its successor, the Boulder Municipal Band, was the first to include women musicians. Today’s Boulder Concert Band was organized in 1976 by Hugh McMillen, former Director of Bands at the University of Colorado. One of the foremost adult community bands in the United States, the Boulder Concert Band comprises more than fifty volunteer musicians from the Boulder, Longmont and Denver metro areas.
The Boulder Concert Band endeavors to give back to our community in numerous ways. The band has been featured at annual conventions of both the Colorado Music Education Association (2003) and the American School Band Directors Association (2006), both held in Colorado Springs. On July 4, 2018, the band played two concerts in the Boulder Chautauqua’s 120th birthday celebration.
Several of our musicians have gone into the public schools to present clinics, work with individual students, and help the music teacher in any way we can. We hope to continue this outreach program in the future.
The Boulder Concert Band held a Young Conductor Competition, possibly the only one of its kind in the country: university conducting majors from around the state presented an audition; the selected student performed as a guest conductor with the band and received a cash prize.
Several of our musicians also have formed small ensembles which perform for private and community events, as well as before some of our concerts. Among these groups are The Firefly Winds, the Flatirons Saxophone Quartet, and the Brassaholics.
The Boulder Concert Band provides outstanding performances of traditional and new concert literature, striving to enrich the cultural experience of both audience and musicians. The band also offers a community organization for adults who wish to continue to play their instruments after high school or college. October to May, audiences enjoy concert band classics and contributions from guest artists in four to six concerts. June through August, we offer fare suitable for family gatherings in Boulder’s beautiful city parks, a patriotic concert in Louisville on the 4th of July and a private concert at the Frasier Meadows Retirement Community. During the summer series we invite talented high school students to join the band. During each summer concert, we also invite the children to help conduct a lively march, and every little conductor receives a commemorative “baton.”
In 2018, Sandra McMillen Sartin was awarded Honorary Boulder Concert Band Board Member for Life, the first award of its kind in our band’s history. Sandy is the proud daughter of the late Hugh McMillen, founder of today’s Boulder Concert Band, and former CU director of bands. Sandy was a band member (French Horn) at various times until her father stepped down from his directorship in 1986. After living in Oklahoma for 23 years (and playing with the Boulder Concert Band occasionally in the summers), she returned to Boulder, and the Boulder Concert Band, in 2015. She remains an active member of our Board of Directors. Sandy is part of the band’s legacy, and her passion for the Boulder Concert Band (and the French Horn!) is stronger than ever. She was profoundly touched to receive the award and sends her thanks to all.
In September, 2020, the Boulder Concert Band was awarded The American Prize in Band Performance Community Division for 2019-2020. The American Prize celebrates American excellence in the arts. We received this honor in recognition of the quality of our recorded performance of John Williams’s “Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Concert Band,” directed by Maestro Silas Nathaniel Huff, and featuring Tim Hughes on alto saxophone and Jordan Taylor on vibraphone, with Jordan Walters on string bass and Katie Hughes on piano.
In June, 2021, the Boulder Concert Band was selected as a finalist for The American Prize. We selected four of our best pieces from concerts in the years 2016 to 2019 to submit for judging. We were awarded third place in Band Performance Community Division, with The Acadian Wind Symphony (Acadia, LA) winning first place, and The Allentown Band (Allentown, PA), taking second place.
In 2023, the Boulder Concert Band was again selected as a finalist in the American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, in the Band Performance Community Division. We submitted “Black Dog” by Scott McAllister, featuring guest clarinet soloist Kwami Barnett, from our May 2022 concert, conducted by Dr. Kenneth Singleton.
