In 1946, Leonard B. Smith founded what would become one of the nation's premier civilian concert band. For 45 years, the Detroit Concert Band performed free summer concerts before audiences of tens of thousands — 60 professional musicians, world-class repertoire, no admission charge. It recorded 31 albums. It was as much a part of a Detroit summer as the river itself.

Then it was gone.

In 2026, the new Detroit Concert Band has been incorporated as a Michigan nonprofit corporation. We are bringing free concerts free back to Detroit — true to the tradition Leonard Smith built and this city has never forgotten, but built for today's audiences.

We are not quite ready. But we will be soon.

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