Municipal Band of the
City of Bethlehem
est. 1935

Biography

Behind the Music

The Bethlehem Municipal Band presents summer programs in the Bethlehem Rose Garden’s Music in the Park series.

The band was founded by Harry B.J. Hertwig and eight fellow musicians to give recent Liberty High School graduates a creative outlet. His first effort drew no interest, but after he and several friends reached out to local civic groups, ten interested musicians met at Joseph Ricapito’s home on May 2, 1935. The band’s first rehearsal was held on September 12, 1935, at the Brown-Borhek Company yard office, with twenty-four musicians attending.

Later that September, the band formally organized and elected officers. On October 20, 1935, Bethlehem City Council unanimously agreed to support the new group, which became the Municipal Band of the City of Bethlehem. Council also provided rehearsal space in the Municipal Building on Market Street. Membership grew to fifty, and the band made its first public appearance at the President’s Ball on January 30, 1936. It performed four summer concerts that year, bought uniforms in 1937, and played at the dedication of Illick’s Mill Park. In 1938, it returned to the President’s Ball, gave ten outdoor and two indoor concerts, and Harry Hertwig resigned on October 10. From 1939 to 1948, the band averaged 12 to 13 concerts a year and began holding annual banquets in 1939. World War II reduced total membership but increased the number of female members, and no banquets were held in 1943 or 1944. From 1949 to 1961, the band averaged 23 to 24 concerts a year. Beginning in 1962, budget cuts reduced performances to ten concerts annually, including the Liberty High School fireworks display, and the annual banquet was discontinued after 1961. The band first played for the Christmas lighting ceremony in 1940, at the dedication of Memorial Pool in 1957, and at the annual Christmas City Fair beginning in 1972. In 1959, a sign advertising its summer concerts debuted on the Hill-to-Hill Bridge.

The band rehearsed at several local sites over the years. It began at the Brown-Borhek Company yard office, moved to Liberty High School in 1947, and then to the Municipal Golf Course clubhouse in 1966. Between 1977 and 1982, it changed locations several times, including the Boys Club Northeast, the Naval Reserve building on Rodger’s Street, the Sears Building on East Broad, the Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority, and Rosemont Lutheran Church, before settling at Trinity Lutheran Church on 3rd Avenue, where it still rehearses.

In 1960, the city purchased a mobile band shelter. In 1969, the band performed at a fundraiser sponsored by the Seratoma Club of Bethlehem to support construction of a permanent band shell in the Rose Garden on Eighth Avenue. Alburtis Meyers was guest conductor, and the band shell was completed in 1982. The band now performs its summer concert series there.

Over its 75-year history, the band has had four directors. Founding member Joseph Ricapito served from 1935 to 1965 and died in November 1979. He was succeeded by assistant director Ray Huston, who led the band from 1965 to 1968 and also founded the American Legion Band of Bethlehem, which he has directed since 1948. Bernard Beitel served from 1968 to 1989, and Donald Kemmerer became director in 1989. The band has also welcomed guest conductors including Alburtis Meyers, Allbert Marchetto, Raymond Becker, and Ronald Sherry.