Who We Are

Northshore Concert Band (NCB) is a 100-member symphonic band active in the Chicago metropolitan area.

The Band performs 6-10 concerts annually, reaching over 10,000 people through a subscription series hosted at Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall and Loyola Academy’s McGrath Family Performing Arts Center, as well as educational outreach events at local schools and community venues. NCB has appeared at the Midwest Clinic — the largest instrumental music education conference in the world — 27 times, most recently in 2011 under the leadership of Mallory Thompson, Daniel Farris, and Donald Hunsberger.

Northshore Concert Band has shared the stage with numerous internationally renowned guest artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Christopher Martin, Michael Martin, Doc Severinsen, Taimur Sullivan, William Warfield, Gail Williams, and musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra such as Dale Clevenger, Adolph “Bud” Herseth, Gene Pokorny, and John Bruce Yeh. The ensemble has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe, including a 2012 tour of Switzerland and Germany with the Blasorchester Niederschopfheim.

In 1987, Northshore Concert Band was the inaugural recipient of the Sudler Silver Scroll from the John Philip Sousa Foundation, recognizing its exceptional contributions to community music.

Dedicated to fostering a lifelong passion for music, the Band’s Lifetime of Music initiative invites middle school students to perform side-by-side with its musicians, encouraging young musicians to pursue music beyond their formal education. NCB has issued seven commercial albums and commissioned 11 new works, including Frank Ticheli’s Nitro (2006) and Jay Kennedy’s Let Your Light Shine (2025).

The musicians of Northshore Concert Band come from across the Chicago area and represent a wide range of professions, from educators and business executives to attorneys and healthcare professionals. Many have performed with the ensemble for over two decades, united by their shared commitment to the Band’s mission of musical excellence and community service.

Mission

Northshore Concert Band’s mission is to foster and promote wind music and adult bands through high-quality performances, music education, recorded works, and commissions. This mission incorporates five objectives:

• To make a substantial contribution to musical life locally, nationally, and internationally.

• To give audiences memorable experiences with the highest quality wind music in a wide range of musical styles.

• To foster and promote wind music and the adult band concept through concerts, conferences, tours, recordings, publications, and commissions.

• To assist in the music education of young people — the future generation of adult musicians — through the presentation of concerts, clinics, festivals, and scholarships.

• To provide members with an opportunity for musical expression, growth, and fellowship.

Board of Directors and Staff