"I played trumpet and helped to found the River City Concert Band (now the Memphis Wind Symphony) 40 years ago. While none of us were professional performing musicians, we were advanced amateurs and some were music teachers. We all loved playing concert band music and wanted the fun of performing in an instrumental ensemble. After performing many concerts in the Memphis area, we were invited to perform (at our own expense, of course!) internationally. On our third self-financed overseas tour, the RCCB happily played a concert in the parking lot of the famous Monte Carlo Casino in the Principality of Monaco (France). We can thus brag that 'we have played for the crowned heads of Europe!' That's an exaggeration, but we had fun watching some wealthy, fur-clad residents of Monaco smiling and dancing to our Elvis tunes."
"Prior to 1976, Memphis Community Music was organized only by benevolent music conductors with institutional support. When those conductors retired, the music groups ceased to exist. The original name of the RCCB was the River City Community Band and was influenced by Meredith Willson's Broadway musical, 'The Music Man.' The RCCB and the GSO were both organized to be as self-sustaining as possible regardless of the conductor. These groups have played hundreds of concerts in the Memphis area over the last 40 years under the musical guidance of numerous different conductors and changed Memphis Community Music forever. As noted above, the RCCB has also served as an overseas ambassador for Memphis."
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