About the Band

Community Bands have been an enduring part of Americana. The San Diego Concert Band proudly continues that tradition. Based in East County, we serve San Diego and neighboring counties, and have acted as cultural ambassadors in performances overseas.

Originally founded as the La Mesa Community Band in 1989 by Charles D. Yates and Warren Torns, the San Diego Concert Band continues to provide the best in concert band music to audiences in San Diego and abroad. Celebrating two decades of entertaining San Diego residents, this band has an exciting schedule of concerts planned this year. Over the years, the annual spring and winter concerts have been performed throughout the county, including East County Performing Arts Center, the beautiful setting of Point Loma Nazarene University and the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center. A more casual summer series of "concerts in the park" are performed at the Southern California Community Band Festival (in Poway), La Mesa's Harry Griffen Park, La Jolla Cove, and Balboa Park. The band frequently features solos, full sections and small ensembles. A wide range of music is performed, from show tunes, movie scores and marches to concert pieces for symphonic band. At its peak, the Band sold out the 1,200 seat East County Performing Arts Center (ECPAC) twice in 1991. At the time, the Band membership included well over 100 local musicians.

Our Conductor - Abelardo D. Flores, a published composer, received his Bachelor of Arts degree in music from San Diego State University, where he studied composition with David Ward-Steinman and Merle Hogg. His original compositions and arrangements have been programmed by groups such as the United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C., the First Marine Division Band, the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra, The Charleston Symphony Wind Quintet, the Mansfield University Concert Wind Ensemble, the Western New England Brass Choir, the Curtis Institute of Music Brass Ensemble, the Angelo State University Wind Ensemble, the Kearny Mesa Concert Band, and many others. His orchestration of Lazare Saminsky's "The Vow" has been recorded by pianist Barry Goldsmith and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on the Kleos Classics label. Mr. Flores' concert band works have also been featured at the National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis. He composed the "Curtain Raiser" which opens every concert of the San Diego Concert Band. His compositions are available through TRN Music, Wehr's Music House, and BAS Publishing. He also serves as a music educator in San Diego. He has been the Music Director of the San Diego Concert Band since 2001.

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