Band members Bonnie Dahl, John Evans and Dave Duran, play with the Orcas Community Band at all sorts of venues, including the Return of the Olga Dock on May 2, pictured here.
The Orcas Community Band has been invited to perform in a Canadian Community BandFest in Ladner, British Columbia, on Sunday, June 14th. “This is quite an honor as we are the only American Band invited,” says Band Manager Karen Key Speck.
The band has chartered a bus and will take the entire band and guests/spouses — the second-only bus trip ever for the Orcas Community Band.
They will be on stage at 1 pm at Memorial Park in Ladner, BC, between the U.S. -Canadian border and Vancouver BC. with the following int
Founded in 1990 in response to local musicians’ desire to play band music together, Orcas Island Community Band began as a “garage band,” literally gathering in its first director’s garage.
By 1994, the group had grown to ten musicians and they performed occasionally in the local Fourth of July parade and were jokingly called the Orcas Island Hysterical Society’s Sedentary Band.
After participating center stage at the local performing arts center, “We’ve grown exponentially and we’ve progressed to road trips to Canada!” says Speck.
The Community Band Director is Joe Babcock, and the group normally rehearses Monday evenings in the Orcas Island School band room.
