Winona has the oldest municipal band west of the Mississippi River. Its story began July 31, 1915, with a performance at Winona’s Levee Park.
—–Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
MN90 Intro: Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.
Britt Aamodt: By 1911, Winonans were beginning to wonder if their city was ever going to get its own municipal band. St. Louis Park had one. Brainerd did. And St. Cloud's had once been feted as the only city band to perform on bicycles.
It wasn't as if Winona didn't have live music. There was the Gate City Brass Band and the Winona Symphony Orchestra. On November 23, 1911, even the famous John Philip Sousa dropped by the opera hall with his 60-piece outfit.
The problem was that even after the Minnesota legislature had set aside money for cities to create municipal bands, Winona was still twiddling its thumbs.
That changed July 31, 1915, when the newly formed Winona Municipal Band welcomed residents to Levee Park, along the banks of the Mississippi, for an afternoon of music.
In less than a decade, the group was on its third director and had built a band shell. And though it had gotten a slow start, the Winona Municipal Band is still going strong at over 100 years old.
MN90 Outro: MN90 is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at mn90.org.