MOORHEAD — Every 25 years, the band at Concordia College helps reconnect and create new friendships between current and past members. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the band celebrated 125 years, welcoming past members and conductors from 1969 to 2024.
"The place is so deeply meaningful to my soul and who I am as a person and that's where the music speaks for itself," said 1981 graduate Steve Olsen. Olsen is one of many alumni who performed with current band members on Saturday inside the Memorial Auditorium — 280 musicians in total. "It reminds me that the band extends further than our current ensemble, it's so easy to get stuck in that we're here Monday, Wednesday, Friday," Concordia sophomore Alysha Onwuneme said.
Current band members say they're used to having about eight weeks of rehearsal before a performance, but they just started school less than a month ago. It was even a quicker turnaround for the alumni, they only had 2.5 hours of rehearsals.
"Doesn't matter how old they are, everyone's skill ability is crazy good still, so it's been super fun having all those age groups play such great music together," Concordia senior Abby Nelson said. The homecoming concert featured Concordia's choir, orchestra and special pieces in memory of past conductors by the band. "It's beautiful to see both programs from my mentor who I studied with, conducted the band with in the 60s to see how they were on the cutting edge of music and also celebrating the past in their programming, and we.
