This Sat., July 4, the Altadena Station Sheriff's Support Group is proud to present the 45-member Elks #99 Concert Band in a program of patriotic music at Farnsworth Park, starting at 7 PM. Admission is free, and bring a picnic!
A short history of The Elks #99 Concert Band: The band was originally
started about 1950, and was called the Southern Pacific Railroad Band.
When the railroad started down sizing in 1964 the band was accquired by
Avis Car Rentals and The Grayline bus tours. At this time the band was
known as the Grayline Concert Band. The band was sent all over the
state via Grayline Bus on behalf of the Company. 
Most of the members at
this time, were members of the Elks Lodge, and so when the Grayline Bus
Company was sold it was natural for the band to become the Elk's #99
Concert Band. Many well known musicians have played with the band over
the years, and although the personnel has changed, the high quality of
musicianship remains.
ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR Richard Babcock was born in 1956 in Binghamton, New York, the first child of an Army doctor and his wife. In 1962 the family settled in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Richard spent the next twenty years. At the age of ten, he started the trumpet. This was Richard's first contact with music up close and personal. He was hooked. He began to compose in junior high and won several local competitions over the next ten years. Along with composing, he began conducting his own works and filling in the missing parts on whatever instrument was needed.
After high school, Richard attended the University of Utah. He became a full time woodwind doubler. He graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Music degree, with emphasis in jazz theory and secondary education. Richard spent the next three years teaching music and working as a freelance musician in Salt Lake City.
In 1983 he was accepted into the MFA program in composition at California Institute of the Arts. He graduated in 1986 and, in 1987, landed the job of Director of Orchestras for Chadwick School in Palos Verdes, in which position he continues to serve. From 1985 to 1990 he was the conductor of another fine community band in the Santa Clarita Valley. In 1990 he became the conductor of the Elk's #99 Concert Band. Due to personal commitments he left for awhile, but in 1997 he returned as our regular conductor. At present, in addition to the Elk's Band, he is also the conductor of the Peninsula Symphonic Winds.
