Storm Lake Municipal Band sets 92nd season at Sunset Park Bandshell

Free live music is about to pull families, seniors and visitors back to Sunset Park, and Storm Lake’s Municipal Band is using its 92nd season to anchor another stretch of summer activity around the lake. The first concert is set for Sunday, May 31, at 2 p.m. at the historic Sunset Park Bandshell, where the city will again offer one of its most accessible traditions with no admission charge.

Seven concerts are scheduled from the last week of May through the first week of July, with most performances beginning at 2 p.m. The exception comes Sunday, June 14, when the concert will start at 3 p.m. so attendees can also take part in Kids’ Fest in Chautauqua Park earlier that afternoon. The series closes with a special July 3 evening concert tied to Star Spangled Spectacular activities at Sunset Park, a placement that should make the holiday stretch especially busy in the lakes area.

The band remains a volunteer ensemble made up of musicians from Storm Lake and surrounding communities, overseen by the Municipal Band Board of Trustees. Tom Musel is returning as director, and Matt Pearson will serve as concert announcer, giving the season a familiar leadership team as the group launches another summer. City facilities information places the Sunset Park Bandshell in Sunset Park near the Heritage Tree Museum, and the city says the venue is available for reservation when the band is not using it.

The music itself is meant to draw a broad crowd. This season’s program will range from marches and classical pieces to pop tunes and movie themes, a mix that has long helped the concerts bridge generations. Recent band coverage has noted performers from high school age through retirees, and longtime musician Clinton Hoferman’s 70 years with the band showed how deeply rooted that mix has become in Storm Lake life.

That history goes back far beyond a single summer schedule. City history says the first official Storm Lake brass band was playing in 1875, and local accounts say the city has supported the organization as a municipal band since 1935. For downtown businesses, restaurants and lakefront traffic, the concerts help turn a Sunday afternoon or holiday evening into a steady flow of people moving through Sunset Park and the surrounding area, keeping one of Storm Lake’s oldest civic traditions tied directly to today’s summer economy.