A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families of instruments,, but no string instruments, which is the key differentiator from an orchestra. Concert bands do occasionally include additional, non-traditional instruments such as the piano, double bass, and harp, or electrified instruments such as synthesizer, electric guitar, and bass guitar.
Concert band music generally includes original wind compositions, concert marches, transcriptions of orchestral arrangements, light music, and popular music. Though the concert band does have similar instrumentation to the marching band, a marching band's main purpose is to perform while marching. In contrast, a concert band usually performs as a stationary ensemble, though European ensembles often do both.
Origins The origins of concert band can be traced back to the French Revolution, in which large bands would often gather for patriotic festivals and celebrations. These bands would play popular music that would immediately captivate the public's attention. Throughout the French Revolution, however, serious composers were often not interested in composing music for bands; this was due in large part to the instrumentation. Concert bands were (and still are) not standardized in their required type and number of instruments, making it nearly impossible to write the correct number of parts for the correct types of instruments. The quality of instruments also impacted composers' unwillingness to compose music for concert band. Wind instruments at that time were often difficult to play in tune and had difficulty in switching pitch and rhythm fast enough. This in turn influenced bands to stick with pieces that were transposed from orchestral movements and arrangements, something that has carried into the modern day.
During the 19th century, large ensembles of wind and percussion instruments in the British and American traditions existed mainly in the form of the military band for ceremonial and festive occasions, and the works performed consisted mostly of marches. The only time wind bands were used in a concert setting comparable to that of a symphony orchestra was when transcriptions of orchestral or operatic pieces were arranged and performed, as there were comparatively few original concert works for a large wind ensemble.Tatum, Lisa. Music for Winds in the 19th Century. Pressbooks. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
It was not until the early 20th century that composers began writing works for concert band. Concert band composers of this time were frustrated at the lack of quality music for bands, and as such, began writing and performing pieces to remedy this. One of the first and most important original works for concert band, First Suite for Band by Gustav Holst, was written in 1909. Other composers of this time period include Ralph Vaughan Williams, Richard Wagner, and Aaron Copland.
Instrumentation Before the 1950s, wind ensembles included various combinations of instruments. The modern "standard" instrumentation of the wind ensemble was more or less established by Frederick Fennell at Eastman School of Music as the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952 after the model of the orchestra: a pool of players from which a composer can select in order to create different sonorities. According to Fennell, the wind ensemble was not revolutionary, but developed naturally out of the music.
Concert band organizations
The British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles (BASBWE) has been a key organisation in the development and promotion of wind, brass, and symphonic band music in the United Kingdom, supporting performers, composers, and educational initiatives within the concert band community.
Bands today Military bands
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching band in the world, dating from the 13th century.
Military bands were originally used to control troops on the battlefield, by using instruments such as drums, bugles, and fifes among others. As communication systems during war became more advanced, the use of instruments on the battlefield as signaling devices fell out of use. From then on, military bands would fulfill a ceremonial role, entertaining troops and playing for the community. As its role shifted so too did its instrumentation. A wider range of instruments was employed to play transcriptions of orchestral works, the bulk of the early wind band repertoire. These military bands evolved into the modern drum and bugle corps and helped to spread the idea of a concert band. A modern military will often have multiple types of bands (e.g. the United States Marine Corps has both a drum and bugle corps and wind ensemble).
Professional bands Professional concert bands not associated with the military appear across the globe, particularly in developed countries. However, most do not offer full-time positions. The competition to make it into one of these concert bands is incredibly high and the ratio of performers to entrants is narrowly small. Examples of professional non-military concert bands include: Dallas Wind Symphony, led by Jerry Junkin San Diego Winds, led for many years by Gregg Hanson Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, led for many years by Frederick Fennell, and currently conducted by Takeshi Ooi Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra Royal Hawaiian Band, created by royal decree in 1836 by King Kamehameha III
Community bands
A community band is a concert band or brass band ensemble composed of volunteer (non-paid) amateur musicians in a particular geographic area. It may be sponsored by the local (municipal) government or self-supporting. These groups rehearse regularly and perform at least once a year. Some bands are also marching bands, participating in parades and other outdoor events. Although they are volunteer musical organizations, community bands may employ an artistic director (conductor) or various operational staff.
The rise of the community band can partially be attributed to industrialization. As the instruments became easier to manufacture, their availability greatly increased. This meant that many amateurs could now form a town band, their arrangements typically consisting of patriotic tunes, marches, and popular music. The American Civil War marked a turning point in the American community band where many military musicians, either stemming from amateur or professional backgrounds, sought to create their own community band after the war's conclusion. The large number of bands created during this era led to a "Golden Age of Bands", spearheaded by conductors such as John Philip Sousa and Patrick Gilmore. The new forms of twentieth-century entertainment, namely the radio and phonograph, led to decline in community bands. This led to instrument manufacturers, who previously had marketed to the community bands, to focus on schools. The expansion of school music programs would eventually help restore interest in the community band as graduates sought to play in a band together again.
Notable community bands include:
U.S.A. The American Band, Providence, Rhode Island, conducted by Brian Cardany Allentown Band, the oldest American civilian band, Allentown, Pennsylvania, conducted by Ronald Demkee Brooklyn Wind Symphony, Brooklyn, NY, conducted by Jeff W. Ball Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps, New York, New York, conducted by Kelly Watkins Northshore Concert Band, Evanston, Illinois, conducted by Mallory Thompson Salt Lake Symphonic Winds, Salt Lake City, Utah, conducted by Thomas P. Rohrer The TriBattery Pops, New York, NY, conducted by Tom Goodkind East Winds Symphonic Band, Pittsburgh, PA, conducted by Susan Sands United Kingdom Birmingham Symphonic Winds, conducted by Keith Allen Newark and Sherwood Concert Band, Newark, Nottinghamshire, conducted by Colum J O'Shea North Cheshire Wind Orchestra, Warrington, Cheshire, conducted by Catherine Tackley Nottingham Concert Band, conducted by Robert Parker National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain, various conductors Canada Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Vancouver. David Branter, Resident Conductor and Acting Music Director Australia North West Wind Ensemble, Sydney, James Brice, Musical Director Sydney Wind Symphony, Mark Brown, Musical Director Queensland Wind Orchestra, conducted by David Law Norway Dragefjellets Musikkorps (Bergen Symphonic Band) Sandvikens Ungdomskorps, Bergen, conducted by Tormod Flaten and Bjørn Breistein Portugal União Filarmónica do Troviscal, Troviscal—Aveiro, conducted by André Granjo Finland Tikkurilan Soittokunta, Vantaa, conducted by Kimmo Nurmi
School bands
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A school band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors (band directors). A school band consists of woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments, although upper level bands may also have string basses or bass guitar.
In many traditional U.S. high schools, there are multiple band levels, distinguished by skill level or other factors. In such schools, an audition may be required to advance to further band levels, while the common level would be open to anyone. For example, in many U.S. high schools, "Concert Band" refers to the introductory level band, "Symphonic Band" is the title for the intermediate level band, and "Wind Ensemble" is the title for the advanced level band.
Instrumentation
Instrumentation for the wind band is not completely standardized; composers will frequently add or omit parts to their scores. Instruments and parts in parentheses in the list below are less common but are still often used; due to the fact that some bands are missing these instruments, important lines for these instruments are often cued into other parts.
Instrumentation for the songs differs depending on the type of ensemble. Middle school and high school bands frequently have more limited instrumentation and fewer parts (a few examples includes no oboe, no bassoon, or neither of the double reeds, only two horn parts instead of four, six, or even eight horns, and no mallet percussion). This is both to limit the difficulty for inexperienced players and because schools frequently do not have access to the less common instruments.
The standard concert band will have several players on each part depending on available personnel and the preference of the conductor, or the composer of a piece. A concert band can theoretically have as many as 200 members from a set that only contains 35 parts. The wind ensemble, on the other hand, will have very little doubling, if any; commonly, clarinets or flutes may be doubled, especially to handle any divisi passages, and other compositions will have one player per part, as dictated by the requirements of a specific composition by the composer. It is also common to see two tubas and two euphoniums and/or baritones playing the same part in a wind ensemble.