By Lily Munnik
As the sun set over Cedar Falls Overman Park on Tuesday evening, families unfolded lawn chairs, children danced across the grass and longtime music lovers settled in for a beloved summer tradition — the Cedar Falls Municipal Band concerts at Overman Park.
The June 2 performance marked more than just the start of the 2026 season.
This year, the Cedar Falls Municipal Band, believed to be Iowa’s oldest concert band, celebrates two important anniversaries — 135 years of its founding and 30 years of performing at the Overman Park Bandshell.
Tuesday’s concert showcased the band’s longstanding role as one of the main musical attractions in town.
As it has in the past, the two-hour performance spread the joy of familiar tunes in the fading sunset. In the seating area, young children pranced around, their spunk spritefully harkening back to the youthful years of their moms and dads and the grandmas and the grandpas sitting in the lawnchairs.
From time to time, some in the audience hummed along with the music from the stage, weaving an intangible connection to the generations who had come before them, just like the band members paid tribute to those who played before them with similar passion and purpose.
Why they love the band
For the band, creating a sense of community is one of their greatest strengths.
“It’s a really nice way for the community to get together once a week,” said Aidan Anderson, a tuba player entering his third year with the band.
Anderson, who recently graduated from UNI with a degree in music education, said he enjoys seeing young children attend the concerts.
“It means that they’re not sitting at home watching TV or playing video games,” he said. “They’re here experiencing something and hopefully that means more musicians later on down the line.”
With Ken Henze conducting, the concert opened with George Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band,” arranged by Paul Yoder, setting an energetic tone for the evening. Featured vocalist Casey Tecklenburg followed with performances of “Stardust” by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish, arranged by Warren Barker, and “Fly Me to the Moon,” by Bart Howard, arranged by Bernd Guadera.
In addition to performing, Tecklenburg serves as vocal music director at Peet Junior High School in Cedar Falls and remains active throughout the Cedar Valley arts community.
Tecklenburg is also an actor, director and pit musician with the Waterloo Community Playhouse and Cedar Falls Community Theatre. He serves as head counselor for Luther College’s Dorian Summer Music Camps and as organist, cantor and choir section leader at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.
The concert also highlighted the next generation of musicians.
Band leaders recognized Kayson Paige, a junior at Waterloo East High School, who earned second place in the Justin Nelson Memorial Youth Artist Competition. The annual event honors outstanding Cedar Valley musicians from grades nine through 12.
The award carries special significance for the band. It was established through a gift from longtime band member Justin Nelson, who dedicated more than 60 years of service to the Cedar Falls Municipal Band.
For many musicians, the summer concert series provides both a creative outlet and a chance to connect with the community.
Riley Capper, a UNI music technology student, is in his second year performing with the band as a substitute tuba player.
“I love it and I love playing for people,” said Capper. “This band gives me an outlet where I can continue performing and being a musician over the summer, when these opportunities can be a little scarce.”
Witnessing the band’s history firsthand
Others have been part of the band’s history in the making.
Tenor saxophonist Mabel Rempe has played with the group on and off since 1994 while building a career as a music educator in the Waterloo Community School District. Now in her 29th year of teaching, Rempe directs sixth-grade wind and percussion classes and teaches seventh and eighth-grade lessons at Hoover Middle School.
“When I started playing for the band, we played in a trailer, so we saw the bandshell get built firsthand,” said Rempe. “I can’t believe it’s been 30 years now.”
After a day spent teaching music, Rempe said rehearsals and performances offer a different kind of fulfillment.
“I had a whole day of teaching music, but then you come here, and I get to just be in the band and play,” she said.
The band rehearses every Monday evening during the summer season, a commitment that members say is rewarded by grateful audiences.
Trombonist Merlin Grady, who performed with the group for more than a decade and intermittently since the 1960s, credits the band’s longevity to dedicated leadership.
“We’ve had good band directors over the years, and we certainly have good band directors now,” said Grady. “They do a wonderful job.”
He added that the audience response makes the effort worthwhile.
“We do a lot of practicing on our own and then rehearsals, so coming out and seeing people enjoy the evening of music, it’s great.”
The concert closed with a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” arranged by John Philip Sousa, bringing the season’s opening night to a patriotic close and signaling the start of another summer of music in the park.
