4 Life on Capitol Hill
June 1, 2021
BAND AIMS TO L A P I C I N U M PROV R E V N ID E E D
MUSIC FOR ALL
The Denver Municipal Band performs at Mayfair Park in east Denver in a past year. The band recently announced that its free summer concerts in the park will take place in locations throughout the metro area this year. COURTESY OF DENVER MUNICIPAL BAND
Community invited to attend concerts in the park this summer By Christy Steadman csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com
T
he sun sets over a beautifully landscaped park in Denver on a warm summer night. Families spread blankets on the grass and start unpacking picnicstyle dinners. Neighbors sit on lowback lawn chairs in small groups, chatting about local goings-on. A cyclist pauses for a few moments to listen to the sounds from the stage. Children happily dance to the music of the Denver Municipal Band. “These evenings in Denver turn into a wonderous time,” said Bob Shaklee, a longtime Denver resident. “It just becomes magical.” The Denver Municipal Band recently announced it will be performing a regular concert series this summer, which includes a number of free concerts in city parks across Denver. “What we like about it (attending Denver Municipal Band concerts) is that it’s a great way to build com-
munity within the city,” said Barb Shaklee. She and her husband, Bob Shaklee, have served on the Denver Municipal Band’s board since the mid-1980s. The Denver Municipal Band has been part of the city’s fabric for about 160 years. It formed when people were coming to take “a shot at finding silver and gold in the mountains,” said Joseph Martin, the Denver Municipal Band’s conductor, executive director and artistic director. Martin, a trombone player and professor at the University of Denver, has been involved with the Denver Municipal Band for about 22 years. Having earned the accolade of being the longest, continually performing band in the U.S., it got its start in 1861 as the Denver City Band to bring culture to the Wild West city of Denver. About 30 years later, the city of Denver guaranteed funding for the band to perform regularly at city ceremo-
UPCOMING CONCERTS The Denver Municipal Band recently announced its summer concerts. The list below are the dates for the concerts that take place in the Washington Park Profile’s coverage area. To find more concerts for areas outside of the Profile’s coverage area, visit https://denvermunicipalband.org.
JUNE 4
SEPT. 11
6-8 p.m. City Park, 2001 Steele St. (pavilion) Ice cream social in the pavilion and Jazz Band concert in the band shell. Sponsored by City Park Alliance, https://cityparkalliance.org.
JULY 9
7-9 p.m. Cheesman Park, 1900 E. 11th Ave. Concert Band concert and neighborhood celebration.
6:30-8 p.m. Pulaski Park, 3300 E. Bayaud Ave. Jazz Band concert and neighborhood celebration, sponsored by Cherry Creek East Association, www.cherrycreekeast.org.
SEPT. 25
1-2:30 p.m. Cheesman Park, 1900 E. 11th Ave. Jazz Band concert and neighborhood celebration.
SEE MUSIC, P5
The Denver Municipal Band’s robust educational program By Christy Steadman csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Along with entertaining crowds that attend city functions and staying busy with its summer concerts, the Denver Municipal Band also has a robust educational program.
It boasts a variety of free community outreach and development programming — including a series of free classes for community members that take place in small business venues such as a neighborhood brewery. During the school year, the band’s musicians will frequent schools across the
metro area to perform or work with the students in the school’s music program. During the COVID-19 pandemic when many students were attending classes remotely, the Denver Municipal Band launched its online content for students and teachers — but accessible to all for free on the band’s website — to supplement a
school or a student’s music education. “I believe in the benefits of the joy of music,” said Shane Endsley, who plays trumpet and drums in the Denver Municipal Band, and serves as its director of education. One mission, he added, is to promote “participation in live music and the arts.”
