Celebrating 50 Years of Making Music
For 50 years, the Golden Eagle Concert Band has brought musicians and audiences together through the joy of live music.
What began in 1977 has grown into a vibrant, all-volunteer community ensemble dedicated to keeping concert band music alive, accessible, and thriving throughout the Denver metro area. For half a century, our musicians have gathered week after week—not for a paycheck, but because we believe in the power of music to connect people, create memories, and strengthen our community.
In 2027, we celebrate our Golden Anniversary — and we want to celebrate 50 years in a way worthy of the musicians, audiences, and community who made those years possible.
Your Colorado Gives donation helps us make this milestone year truly special while building a strong foundation for the next 50 years.
Donations directly support the costs that keep our music playing: rehearsal and performance venues, new sheet music, instruments and equipment, insurance, publicity, community outreach, and the day-to-day expenses of operating a nonprofit community ensemble. Your support also gives us the opportunity to dream a little bigger for our 50th Anniversary—with special performances, new musical experiences, and meaningful ways to celebrate the history and future of the Golden Eagle Concert Band.
And because our concerts are free, your gift does something especially important: it helps ensure that cost is never a barrier to experiencing live music. Families can bring their children. Seniors can enjoy an afternoon of familiar melodies. Someone can hear a concert band for the very first time. And local musicians can continue to have a welcoming place to rehearse, perform, challenge themselves, and share their love of music with others.
Under new leadership, Golden Eagle is entering its 50th year with renewed energy and exciting growth. We are incredibly proud of where we’ve been—and even more excited about where we’re going.
Fifty years. Thousands of rehearsals. Countless notes. Generations of musicians and audience members. One extraordinary community.
Help us celebrate our Golden Anniversary, honor the legacy of everyone who brought us this far, and make sure the music continues for the next generation.
Here’s to 50 years of making music—and to the next 50!
The Golden Eagle Concert Band's mission is to provide concerts that educate and entertain Colorado communities with diverse musical genres, and to offer adult musicians of varying skill levels the opportunity to develop their musical abilities and participate in a concert band setting. Essentially, the band aims to enrich the cultural landscape of the region while fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for musicians of all backgrounds.
The Golden Eagle Concert Band (GECB) is based in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. We are an all-volunteer adult community band consisting of 60 members that include people of all ages and backgrounds. The GECB is active throughout the Denver Metropolitan Area and the state of Colorado. The versatility of the GECB music collection includes Marches, Patriotic, Pop, Classical, Jazz, Rock, Broadway show tunes, TV themes, Big Band music, and more.
We hold up to five formal concerts each year at Wheat Ridge Center for Music and Arts and other locations around the Denver metro area. The band also performs many indoor and outdoor concerts during the summer for the general public, retirement communities, festivals, churches, and private organizations. The band recently performed at the City of Golden July 4th festivities.
Our History
Founded in 1977, the GECB was originally called the Gold Nugget Brass Band, and was owned and directed by Don Smith, a former circus trumpet player. After fourteen years, Don Smith decided to retire and started to dissolve the band. The band members wanted to continue playing, so the name was changed to the Golden Eagle Brass Band and the non-profit organization was formed in 1991. Dorsey Hudson directed the band for three and one-half years, then various band members directed for about six months. In January of 1995, John R. Williams was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor. In 2007, the band changed its name to the Golden Eagle Concert Band, which more accurately represented the instrumentation of the band. The GECB became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1996 and has been a part of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), Tier III, since 1996. The band is supported in part by grants from several County Cultural Councils.
Organization name
Golden Eagle Concert Band
other names
GECB, Golden Eagle Brass Band
1995
Tax id (EIN)
84-1188264
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
5606 S Zinnia StJefferson County, CO, US