​The American Band will present a concert November 11t​h​ at 3pm in Sapinsley Hall of Rhode Island College to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of its reorganization. Although founded in 1837, the band went through a series of changes through its tenure, starting as a drum and brass group, to a full band that performed sporadically through the early 20th century. In 1978, Dr. Francis Marciniak of Rhode Island College organized a group of community musicians to form a new version of the band, and was presented with the Band’s original charter at their first concert in January of 1979. That concert will be recreated by the current band members on November 11th, as well as a few added selections. There are six current members of The American Band who were members of the band in 1978, and band alumni from any time are invited to join the current band to play John Philip Sousa’s ​The Stars and Stripes Forever​. Funding provided in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and private funders.

The American Band, currently led by Dr. Brian Cardany, was founded in 1837 in Providence, RI, and is one of the oldest community bands in the United States. The band was present at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, and played tunes on the Crescent Park Pier to welcome guests to the amusement park off the ferry in the 1890s. The band has grown from a brass and drum group into a 60-member wind ensemble. Recent concert venues include the Bristol Fourth of July Celebration, the John Brown House, and the Glen Manor House.