Organization

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Fanfare Concert Winds

Fanfare Concert Winds is non-profit, 65+ piece concert band comprised of local amateur and professional musicians and music students. Although the band is offered as a concert band ensemble through the Hillsborough Community College (HCC) Music Department curriculum, it is almost entirely a volunteer operation. The members come from many vocations and backgrounds including medical professionals, business owners, computer technicians, and sales and marketing professionals.

A major source of pride is the respect the group has established in the Tampa Bay music community. This has been the result of the quality of performance and the high caliber of music selection. Fanfare Concert Winds has therefore attracted numerous middle and high school band and choral directors as performing members of the band. Many of the band members have performed with the group from it’s early days as a Brass Choir (1998) and then as the Tampa Bay Winds, before the name was changed in the spring of 2001 with the concert band regularly rehearsing at the HCC Ybor City campus.

Requests for Fanfare Concert Winds to perform continue to increase as the band gains recognition. It performs regularly at the HCC Ybor City campus with free concerts for the students and community, as well as area churches, community centers and parks. The band has also generated much excitement with joint concerts with the University of Tampa Symphonic Band, local high school bands and ensembles, and even a visiting community band from England. Students at local middle and high schools have participated in the group, enhancing their musical training and giving them real life experience.

Fanfare Concert Winds endeavors to perform the highest quality concert band music available while presenting an enjoyable concert of recognizable marches, overtures, show tunes and symphonic band transcriptions. A Brass Choir of active members also performs at local churches and weddings as well as performing outstanding fanfares and brass music during the concerts. Other “break-out” ensembles include Jazz as well as a classical Woodwind Quartet.

The band is governed by a Board of Directors and directed by Mr. Jim Burge, Principal Conductor, and former head of the Department of Music, HCC Ybor City. Concerts are provided free of charge; donations are accepted to assist in expenses associated with travel, instrumentation, sheet music, and advertising and promotional materials. During the last few Christmas seasons, the band enjoyed collecting gifts and donations at the concerts to benefit the Tampa Bay Foster Angels program, distributing presents to hundreds of area foster children, ages 1 month to 18 years old.