Milwaukee Concert Band, Neighbor

The Milwaukee Concert Band was organized in 1939 as the Young People’s Symphonic Band by the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. It presented its first concert on May 28, 1940, under the direction of Dr. Joseph Skornicka. The ticket price was 25¢ or $4 for a box of six seats. All funds received by the CMA were used to purchase instruments for those who had none and were rented to the players at $5 for the season. In 1946, the band became known as the Civic Symphonic Band.

When the many years of funding by the City of Milwaukee ended in 1974, the band was adopted by the Milwaukee County Park Commission. On March 1, 1996, this relationship ended and the band incorporated as the Milwaukee Concert Band. The band has appeared on many of the concert stages in the greater Milwaukee metro area, and has featured prominent local artists such as Roger Bloemers, John Hibbler, Daniel Neelsley, John Steinke, Frank Suetholz, and others. Among the national figures it has hosted are Paul Yoder, Lee Dougherty, Phil Ruecktenwald, John Paynter, and Richard Metzger.

Our conductors have been:

Dr. Joseph Skornicka, 1940-1959

Paul Anderson, 1959-1973

Wayne Becker, 1973-1989

Patricia Wellman, 1989-1997

Dr. Nicholas J. Contorno, 1997-2002

Gregory A. Schaffer, 2002-2016

Jeremy Davis, 2016-2018

Dr. Patricia Backhaus, 2018-2020

Temporary director Mike Van Pelt, 2021

Bryan Kujawa, 2022-present

Today the Milwaukee Concert Band provides an outlet for talented local performers from the greater Milwaukee area to play a variety of musical styles from the classics to Broadway. We perform three public concerts per season along with private concerts at area nursing homes and a Christmas concert at the VA Medical Center.