Extracts from the Gordon Bowie Paper” (1990)
AN OVERVIEW OF FACTORS INFLUENCING MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT AND STABILITY IN AMERICAN ADULT
AMATEUR BANDS
Edited By Marlin Strand
with a special emphasis on Band Leadership
and its impact on
Success, Growth and Sustainment of the
Community Band
There are numerous success stories in the band movement, but
many community bands flourish briefly, and then decline in the face of personnel
pressures. Traditional bands that have
survived through the years and maintained the valuable and artistic repertoire
of the adult band (distinct from the educational repertoire) need to adapt and
grow as times change if they are not to dwindle and perish. Because society as a whole no longer places a
premium on adult band membership, the key issue is attracting and retaining
enough of the right players to allow a band to perpetuate its special
activities.