About Us
The Glenview Concert Band has been entertaining residents of the Chicago suburbs for 40 years. The Glenview Concert Band is a community band comprised of volunteer adults throughout the Chicagoland area. The band is based in Glenview, Illinois, and performs concerts at a variety of venues around the north suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The Band is an adult leisure time activity sponsored by the Glenview Park District.
The Glenview Concert Band was formed in 1985 when 12 amateur musicians gathered for the first rehearsal under conductor Dick Austin, then the band director at Field School. Today, 40 years later, 3 of the original band members are still playing with the band!
Dick Austin was succeeded by Ron Pryble. In 1987, Glenview resident Kenneth Bartosz, then Chairman of the Fine Arts and Director of Instrumental Music at Loyola Academy, took over as director and enjoyed a 26-year tenure as Director of the Glenview Concert Band. Under Ken Bartosz, the band grew substantially in both numbers and musicianship. When Ken passed away in 2013, Greg Wojcik, beloved Director of Bands for over 37 years at Glenbrook South High School, assumed the Music Director position and has currently been Director since 2013. The band has risen to new heights once again in both numbers and musicianship under Greg’s baton.
The Glenview Concert Band is open to all players of wind, brass, and percussion instruments. There are no auditions. The band enjoys getting together to practice and prepare songs for audiences. It is a great opportunity for adults who enjoy playing to keep it up. Members come from Glenview, as well as the surrounding suburbs and even the city of Chicago. While there are professional musicians and music educators in the band, most of the members are amateur musicians who played in college or high school and have other professions. It’s not unusual to have members rehearsing years later with their high school or college band friends! And the band has retirees who picked up their instrument again remembering the camraderie of playing in a band. Professions have included pharmacists, CPAs, physicians, attorneys, engineers, and scientists. Families have been an integral part with numerous married couples, siblings, and parent/grandparent/child combinations.
Audiences throughout the North Shore have enjoyed rousing marches by John Philip Sousa and Karl King, patriotic favorites, Broadway and Hollywood musicals and movie music, along with traditional concert band music and orchestral transcriptions. The band has been fortunate to have performed compositions and arrangements by Glenview resident, former assistant conductor, and legendary percussionist Dick Schory.
At times you will see the audience involved in the concert. During the summer, children may be asked to come up and conduct part of a march. During the indoor season you may find the band performing at the Glenview Park District Lakeview Room, a local church, or at Glenbrook South, including a tradition of playing a Holiday concert with the Glenbrook South High School band that includes a visit from Santa Claus himself!
During the 2024-25 Season, the Band is celebrating its 40th Anniversary season! The season has several highlights to commemorate the occasion. The Band developed a new logo, incorporating the historic Glenview Naval Base Tower and a few notes from Karl King’s “The Walking Frog,” a march that the Band has played repeatedly over the first 40 years and was a featured logo for a number of years.
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary, the Band has also commissioned prominent composer Rossano Galante to write a new concert band composition for the Band. The piece, entitled “Jet Speed,” will be premiered for the first time ever at the Band’s Anniversary Concert to be held April 27, 2025. The piece is dedicated to Greg Wojcik for his longtime service as a music educator in Glenview.
Although we celebrate 40 years of musicmaking, we look to the future to continue to play for audiences all around the North Shore and to welcome the next generation of musicians—professional and those that simply want to continue playing beyond high school or college—to a friendly environment where we can all continue to make music together!
