State College Area Municipal Band
About the Band
The State College Area Municipal Band was formed in 1976 with a group of approximately 80 amateur and semi-professional band members. Performing four free indoor concerts per year, the band’s repertoire ranges from pop songs to standard band classics, including overtures, transcriptions, and marches. The free concerts are held in State College Area School District facilities, and concert locations are announced in advance. Donations for the band are gratefully accepted at the door. Everyone is welcome!
Upcoming Concerts
Please check back here for Summer Pop-Up concerts and the late 2024/2025 concert dates.
Thank you for your continued support of the "Pop-Up" Concerts! Here's a look at the 2021 Veterans Day Concert (Video).
Band History
The State College Area Municipal Band became a year-round continuing performing organization in 1981. Before 1981 the band played occasional concerts for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Records indicate that the first band was organized to play at the 1976 Arts Festival.
Under Dr. Ramsey as full-time conductor in 1981, the band started playing indoor concerts, with the first taking place in February of that same year, followed by the first annual Mother's Day concert. The band added a fall concert in 1983, later to develop into its annual Salute to Veterans. In May 1984, Dr. 0. Richard Bundy became the director. In 1985, in addition to their two regularly held concerts, the band began to play regularly for the Kiwanis Club's 4th of July Fireworks display at Beaver Stadium.
In February 1996 Dr. Ned C. Deihl, Professor Emeritus and retired Director of Bands at Penn State, became the conductor of the Band. In November 1998, the band formally organized with bylaws, officers, and a Board of Directors, and established its partnership with Centre Region Parks and Recreation, which continues to this day.
Recently the band hired Robert Hickey as their new Director. Robert Hickey is the Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at The Pennsylvania State University. He is the Assistant Director for the Penn State Marching Blue Band, co-director of the Pride of the Lions Pep Band, and conductor of the Symphonic Band. Additional teaching responsibilities include teaching all levels of undergraduate conducting and supervising student teachers. Before his appointment at Penn State, Robert served as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Fairmont State University in Fairmont, WV. His responsibilities included conducting the marching band, wind ensemble, and jazz band; and teaching courses in conducting, music education, music appreciation, and clarinet. Robert has also served as an adjunct instructor at Bucknell University and Lycoming College where he taught studio clarinet and woodwind methods.
While completing his master's degree at Penn State, Robert held graduate assistantships with the Athletic Bands and Concert Bands, where he served as the Assistant Conductor of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band. He studied conducting with Dennis Glocke and was a clarinet student of Anthony Costa. While completing his degree, he was a finalist for the Chamber Music Track of participants at the Temple University Conducting Workshop. While in attendance he was selected to conduct a chamber music work on a concert with the Temple Chamber Winds and to work with Craig Kirchhoff and Dr. Emily Threinen.
In addition to his faculty teaching responsibilities, Robert is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Music Education at Penn State. Research interests include how motivation impacts participation in music activities and how repertoire selections help to fulfill the basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Robert has presented research posters at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and NAfME Eastern Division conferences and co-presented a session at the CBDNA Athletic Band Symposium on “Organizational and Facility Adaptations that Create a Culture of Gender Inclusivity in College Athletic Bands.”
As an educator in public schools, Robert has taught in the Stroudsburg, Williamsport, and Warrior Run school districts. Teaching experience includes MS/HS band, MS choir, and 6th-8th grade general music. Starting in the summer of 2024 Robert became the music director of the State College Area Municipal Band, a community band made up of area musicians in State College and surrounding communities. Hickey has also been an invited clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor for marching bands and concert bands throughout the Mid-Atlantic.
The band currently has a diverse group of individuals including players that range in age from 19 to 82, and come from the Centre Region area including State College, Bellefonte, Howard, Aaronsburg, Lock Haven, Mifflinburg, Lewistown, Huntingdon, and Johnstown.
Each year during its indoor season the band holds four Sunday afternoon Programs--Fall, Winter, Spring, and Mother's Day. The band also usually performs three times during the summer: Arts Festival, the 4th Fest, and the Summer Music Picnic Series at South Hills.
- View the State College Municipal Band Bylaws online.
To contact the band please email us at statecollegeareamunicipalband@gmail.com. You can help support the State College Municipal Band by making a gift to the Martin and Margaret Wyand Music Fund.
