The Lee County Community Band opens its 2026-27 season Sunday with a free concert at Mariner High School in Cape Coral, pairing patriotic standards with a sibling act built for the occasion: a brother who once sang with the U.S. Army's premier band joining his sister, who now leads this one from the podium.
The concert, titled “The American Journey, 1776-2026: Honoring 250 Years of Freedom and Service,” begins at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, in the Mariner High School auditorium, according to Pine Island Eagle. Admission is free and open to the public, though donations are welcome, the outlet reports. Mariner High School sits at 701 Chiquita Blvd. N. in Cape Coral, and concertgoers are told to look for parking signs at the corner of Chiquita Boulevard and Tropicana Parkway.
Vocalist Fred Lamb will join the band for several selections. Lamb is a longtime vocalist with The U.S. Army Band's “Pershing's Own” and is the brother of Lee County Community Band Music Director Kathy Lamb Williams, per the same report. The family connection gives the concert's armed-forces theme an added personal layer, with Williams directing the 60-piece volunteer band from the podium while her brother takes the mic.
A Program Spanning Marches, Blues and Sing-Alongs
The afternoon's lineup is built to stretch beyond typical patriotic fare. The program includes patriotic music, military tributes, classic marches, jazz, blues, popular favorites and audience sing-alongs, the Pine Island Eagle notes, with the 2026 concert marking 250 years since the nation's founding.
Selections named in the seed coverage include The Star-Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, American Soldier, An American Fanfare and An American Salute, alongside Salute to the Armed Services, Semper Fidelis, The Liberty Bell March, The Best of the West and In the Mood, as reported by the Cape Coral Breeze. The set list rounds out with St. Louis Blues, Pop and Rock Legends: Chicago, You're a Grand Old Flag/This Is My Country and The Stars and Stripes Forever, according to the same report.
A Band With Roots Stretching Back to 1885
The ensemble traces its history to Nov. 21, 1885, when it was originally formed and known as the Fort Myers Brass Band, later renamed the Fort Myers Military Band, according to leecountyband.org. Its first public performance came on March 25, 1886, when members marched to Seminole Lodge and serenaded Thomas and Mary Edison, the band's history page states. That lineage makes the group one of America's oldest surviving community bands, carrying a Southwest Florida musical tradition that the organization says began in 1885.
The band typically performs free public concerts monthly from November through April, per its history page. This year's opening show arrives after what organizers called a season of growth: the band's smaller outreach ensemble performed 28 concerts from mid-May through November 2025 during its first season, according to the North Fort Myers Neighbor. In 2026, the band's board expanded that effort further, establishing a regular summer season running from the first Wednesday in May through the last Wednesday in September and adding other community appearances, the outlet reported.
New Conductor, Familiar Family Ties
Sunday's concert also opens Kathy Lamb Williams' first full season as music director, according to the seed report from the Cape Coral Breeze. Williams is a lifelong French horn player and educator with more than four decades of music-education experience, the article notes.
Band representative Joanne Correia said the concert offers a meaningful opportunity to recognize veterans, service members and military families near Veterans Day, and that music can bring people together, adding the band wanted to begin the season with gratitude, pride and community. Correia said attendees can expect more than a traditional patriotic concert, with music spanning genres and audience sing-alongs woven throughout the afternoon. The band has invited veterans, service members, military families, veterans organizations, and Southwest Florida residents and visitors to attend. More information is available at leecountyband.org or by emailing [email protected].
