Correction: This article has been updated to correct the name of Vernon Taranto. It is not Vincent Taranto, as previously printed. 225 regrets the error.
SEE THE SHOW
Baton Rouge Concert Band’s Fourth of July Concert
Main Library at Goodwood | 7:30 p.m. | brcb.org
The soaring sound of a concert band is part of a community’s essential backdrop, a festive undercurrent bringing deeper meaning and a cheery mood to civic events. Since 1976, the Baton Rouge Concert Band has provided such a soundtrack for those occasions, played by 65 volunteer musicians whose ages range from 18 to 80.
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Band members typically fell in love with their instruments while playing in school, and they didn’t want to abandon them as adults, says vice president and trumpet section leader Mark Courter.
“We’re made up of people who invested a lot of time in music,” says Courter, who works by day as a software engineer. “We might have played in high school or in college, but we wanted to continue playing. It’s a great outlet.”
Courter says some members joined the concert band immediately following playing in bands in high school or college, while others returned to playing after long breaks. He falls into the latter category. The former Tiger Band member graduated from LSU in 1981, and joined the Concert Band in 1993. He’s been playing with it ever since.
This month, the band performs its annual Fourth of July concert in the courtyard of the Main Library. The show follows a successful Memorial Day concert of patriotic pieces and World War II era showtunes, also held at the library.
For Independence Day, expect to hear big numbers like “The Star Spangled Banner” and John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” The Concert Band will also play a Leonard Bernstein tribute, “God Bless the USA” and a piece in which the famous baseball poem “Casey at the Bat,” is set to music. 
A lot of time and energy has gone into the band’s preparation, Courter says. Members meet weekly for rehearsal at Dutchtown High School under the direction of conductor Sheily Bell and assistant conductor Daniel Modenbach.
Bell is only the second director in the Baton Rouge Concert Band’s history. She followed founding director Vernon Taranto Sr., who led the band from 1976 until his retirement in 2002.
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Different from orchestras, concert bands are comprised of clarinets, bassoons and oboes, a range of brass and high brass as well as percussion. Their distinct sound makes them perfect for municipal events, parades and holidays. There are thousands of community concert bands across the country, each one providing adult instrumental musicians an outlet for playing, while also fortifying the community’s cultural fabric.
“We have a lot of very good musicians,” Courter says. “And we love playing for the community.”
This article was originally published in the July 2022 issue of 225 magazine.