A message from Music Director Dr. German Gonzalez
We are now the
“Soul of the City”
and a sneak preview of our 2025 season.
Our 2025 concert season spans from the last Sunday in April through the first week in October. This year, we will also present a pre-season Big Band concert on Friday, April 18. Sign up for our email list for details.
As you may know, each 2024 concert had its own unique theme, some similar to years past. This year we will build on and expand those themes.
We are pleased to announce that the Golden Gate Park Band has received an official certification from the San Francisco Small Business and Historic Preservation Commission. We are officially a ”Legacy Business” of San Francisco, dating back to our first concert in September of 1882. We are proud to be honored as a valuable cultural asset and part of the “Soul of San Francisco”, critical to maintaining the unique character of our city.
I have just sent out invitations to 9 different organizations to collaborate with us and distributed each group throughout the season to share a concert. They include cultural arts groups of song and dance featuring Polish, Armenian, Irish, Scottish, Mexican, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Spanish cultures. We also plan to celebrate Pride, Juneteenth, The Golden Gate Park Community Band Festival, and NERT (Neighborhood Emergency Relief Team) during the season. We are planning a total of 25 unique concerts that include these special concerts.
We are in the process of shaping the rest of the concert season and will share the particulars about each soon. Some of the confirmed pieces include audience favorites such as Leroy Anderson’s Bugler’s Holiday, the Chaminade Flute Concerto and the classic family favorite “Tubby The Tuba”, featuring our amazing Tuba soloist Bin Love with narration by my dear friend, Ms. Kathy Holly. Come and experience the fun with us! As we finalize more concerts they will be posted on our season calendar.
I’m pleased with how 2025 season programs are taking shape. The 2024 season had some of our largest audiences in years, and we are looking forward to more audience growth in the 2025 season.We are especially grateful to our “regular attendees”. We could not exist without their enthusiastic support. Please spread the word and thank you for the donations!
Did you know that the band is comprised of thirty dedicated professional musicians who go above and beyond expectations to present an entertaining event every week? It takes skilled pros to put together a 90 minute program with only an hour of rehearsal each week.
I feel privileged and honored to have been appointed the 11th Music Director and Conductor in 2024 and am looking forward to this 2025 season. If you have never attended, I encourage you to come, hear us play, and bring family and friends. Enjoy a picnic while we perform! We are poised and ready to present our 143rd season as one of the the oldest professional municipal band in the country.
We will post further updates of our season in March. Thank you for your continued support of the Golden Gate Park Band.
Musically yours,
Dr. German Gonzalez
Music Director,
Golden Gate Park Band
(the soul of the city)
