(It is common to see an 86-year-old explain how the Kiel band works to a 15-year-old, and the camaraderie among players is extraordinary.)
Kiel, Wisconsin was selected as the host community for the 1928 State Firemen’s Convention. The Kiel Municipal Band was organized on March 7, 1928, when some townspeople decided a special band was needed to perform at the upcoming convention. Jake Zwickey was named the conductor.
The band has had only three directors in its 82-year history. Zwickey led the band until 1934. His replacement was clarinetist and charter member Edgar Thiessen, who was only 20 years old at the time. He conducted the group until his death in January 1984. The band’s board of directors selected current conductor Lewis A. Schmidt to replace Thiessen. The band has had many noteworthy guest conductors, including William Revelli, John Paynter, Edwin Franko Goldman, Harry Begian, and Charles Menghini.
(Although the Kiel Municipal Band was not formed until 1928, there were bands in Kiel as far back as 1870. This photo of the Arion Band was taken in 1900.)
The Kiel Municipal Band rehearses two nights a week and performs indoor concerts for fall, Christmas, and spring, as well as five outdoor summer concerts per year. The band also marches in 8-10 parades per year. Over the years the band has performed in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Elkhart, Indiana, and Kiel, Germany. In 1954 the group was the first community band to appear at Midwest, and it returned there in 1979.
The Kiel Municipal Band is also one of the few civilian bands that has been permitted to perform in the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, and it played for the Milwaukee unveiling of a postage stamp honoring John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever. In 1985 the band was the host band for the American Bandmasters Association Convention held in Kiel and Kohler and also represented Wisconsin at Major League Baseball’s All-Star game in Minnesota. Just last month the band returned to Washington for the National Community Band Sousa Festival.
Band members tend to stay for a long time. Although there are high school students in the group, many members have tenures of at least 30-40 years, and one member is in his 62nd year with the band. A number of married couples met each other in the band. Says director Lewis Schmidt, “The camaraderie and interaction between members is noteworthy. It is common to see an 86-year-old explain how the band works to a 15-year-old, or a youngster helping an injured percussionist set up equipment.” Most band members come from Kiel or the neighboring communities of New Holstein, Manitowoc, and Appleton.
The band’s signature march is Invincible Fidelity written by Albert A. Fradeneck in 1923. The band began using it as a street march in 1939, and it is played as an encore at the end of most concerts. In its 75th year the band was able to purchase the copyright, thanks to an anonymous donor. The title of the march is also the band’s motto.
