Yale Band Tours Updated June 2018
In 1959, the Yale Concert Band became the first American band to tour Europe. Since that time, the Concert Band has mounted twenty-nine tours: five to Europe (including the first in 1959) under the direction of Keith Wilson; one to Europe and four to other parts of the United States under the direction of Keith Brion; and nineteen worldwide under the direction of Thomas C. Duffy. In May 2018, a tour in Australia brought the Band to its sixth continent. (Tours are listed in reverse chronological order.)
2018 / 1st Australian Tour: Concert Band – Australia. Concerts in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, and Newcastle.
2016 / 16th European Tour: Concert Band – Italy and Greece. Concerts in Rome, Bologna, Urbino, Delphi, and Athens.
2014 / 3rd African Tour: Concert Band – Ghana. Concerts in Accra, Elimina, and Yamoransa
2013 / 15th European Tour: Concert Band – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. Concerts in Vilnius, Riga, Tartu, and Tallinn.
2011 / 2nd African Tour: Concert Band – South Africa, Swaziland. Concerts in Potchefstroom, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, and the Bushfire Festival in Swaziland.
2009 / Concert Band Tour: Mexico. Concerts in Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, and Monterrey.
2007 / 1st South American Tour: Concert Band – Brazil. Concerts in São Paolo, Santos, Sorocaba, Campinas, Ipanema, and Rio de Janeiro.
2005 / Concert Band Tour: Bermuda. Concert tour of Bermuda, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Island.
2003 / 14th European Tour: Concert Band – Russia, Finland, Czech Republic – Celebrating St. Petersburg’s 300th Anniversary. Concerts in Helsinki, Finland; Novgorod and St. Petersburg, Russia; Dvorak Hall in Prague, Czech Republic.
2001 / 13th European Tour: Concert Band – Austria, Czech Republic. Concerts in Salzburg and Perchtoldsdorf (Austria) and Brno (Czech Republic).
1999 / 12th European & 1st African Tour: Concert Band – Spain, Ceuta (Africa). Concerts in Torremolinos, Ceuta (Africa), Teatro Moderno-Chiclana, and Auditorio Villa de Salobrena.
1997 / 11th European Tour: Concert Band – Ireland. Concerts and broadcasts – University of Cork, Crescent College Comprehensive – Limerick, Maion Cheoil and Chlair-Ennis, and the National Concert Hall in Dublin.
1994 / 10th European Tour: All 3 Bands – France, England. Members of all three bands presented concerts and the Glenn Miller radio show in Southampton and London (England); Cherbourg, Dinard, Paris, and Blérancourt (France).
1991 / 9th European Tour: All 3 Bands – England. YPMB marched in the Lord Mayor of London’s New Year’s Day Parade and performed in Royal Albert Hall; Concert Band performance in St. John’s Smith Square and BBC broadcast; Jazz Ensemble performed in Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.
1989 / 8th European Tour: Concert Band – Italy. Concerts in Salsamaggiore, Arezzo, Rome (Villa Borghese), Naples, and Amalfi.
1987 / 1st Asian Tour: Concert Band – Japan. Thirteen performances concluding with an appearance at the All-Asia Band Conference in Tokyo; guest artists Karel Husa, composer/conductor and Eugene Rousseau, alto saxophone.
1985 / 7th European Tour: Concert Band – England. Performances at Oxford University, Cambridge University, The Royal Institute of Military Music, the American School in Croydon, and St. Jude’s Church for the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts.
1984 / 1st Yale Jazz Ensemble Tour: Bermuda. Four concerts in Bermudian hotels and in the Bermuda Yacht Club.
1983 / Concert Band Tour: Bermuda. Concert tour of Bermuda as participants in the Island’s 350th Anniversary. Concerts in St. George, Hamilton, Somers, at the US Consulate, at the US Naval Base, and in the Hamilton Cathedral.
1980 / 4th US Tour: Concert Band – Puerto Rico. Premieres of works by David Borden, David Snow, and Robert Moore.
1979 / 3rd US Tour: Concert Band – Texas. Concerts and broadcasts in Texas.
1977 / 2nd US Tour: Concert Band – West Coast. Concerts and broadcasts in California.
1976 / 6th European Tour; Concert Band – Europe. Concerts and broadcasts in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Grosse Musikhalle, Hamburg, the American Embassy of Sweden, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
1976 / 1st US Tour: Concert Band – East Coast. Concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C., South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
1972 / 5th European Tour: Concert Band – Europe. First student group to perform at the Concertgebouw, Holland. Concerts in England, Netherlands, and Belgium.
1968 / 4th European Tour: Concert Band – Europe. Concerts in Wrexham, Wales in conjunction with the Commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Naming of Yale College. Concerts and broadcasts in Holland, West Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, England, and Wales.
1965 / 3rd European Tour: Concert Band – Europe. Arranged by the Yale Band and the State Department. Concerts in England, Wales, Holland, West Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg; final concert in Paris.
1962 / 2nd European Tour: Concert Band – Europe. Combined tour with the Rutgers University Male Chorus (under the auspices of Carnegie Hall International). First student groups to perform at the Bergen Festival, Norway; other concerts in Norway, Denmark, West Germany, and Holland.
1959 / 1st European Tour: Concert Band – Europe. First tour of Europe by any American Band. Thirty- one concerts and radio broadcasts in England, Holland, West Germany, Switzerland, and France.