Our History

Founded in 1930 with only 19 musicians, the Wheaton Municipal Band, with the financial support of the City of Wheaton, Illinois, has grown into one of the finest organizations of its type in existence today. The dynamic leadership and vision of Music Director Bruce Moss, coupled with the tremendous support from the City of Wheaton, the Municipal Band Commission, the Board of Directors and the Friends of the Wheaton Municipal Band, has brought the band national and international recognition. The band has often been featured in newspapers and magazines, including the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Herald, and the Instrumentalist. The ensemble has also been highlighted in several television programs, including “Two on Two”, produced by WBBM-TV, and several cable vision programs.

The band was featured with the U.S. Marine Band, The Blossom Festival Band, and the Allentown (Pa.) Band in a documentary on the life of John Philip Sousa. “If You Knew Sousa” was produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, for the PBS series, The American Experience,” and has been distributed internationally.

In December 2012, the band performed at the prestigious Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. The high honor of being invited to perform at the Midwest Clinic followed a rigorous application and audition process. The band was selected once again in 2017 and 2023, becoming the first band of its kind to perform three times at this prestigious event. In addition, the band has performed at the Petrillo Music Shell in Chicago’s Grant Park and at two conventions of the American School Band Director’s Association. 1998 at Nequa Valley High School and 2023 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. Prominent guests performing with the ensemble have included members of the Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Toledo, and Honolulu symphony orchestras as well as conductors and soloists from the Washington, D.C. military bands and major universities throughout the country.

The Wheaton Municipal Band performs a series of Thursday night concerts for thousands each summer in Wheaton’s beautiful downtown Memorial Park. These band concerts have become treasured events for families in communities reaching throughout the Chicago suburbs.