The Marquette City Band performs the inaugural concert inside of the Peg Hirvonen Bandshell on Thursday night. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)

MARQUETTE — On Thursday night, the Marquette City Band performed the inaugural concert at the new Peg Hirvonen Bandshell, in a performance celebrating both the new bandshell and the band’s 140th year.

The evening began with the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner,” as well as speeches by several people involved with the city band and the new bandshell.

Marquette’s Community Services Director Jon Swenson spoke to the assembled crowd about the history of the bandshell project, saying that “the previous bandshell was built on this site in 1935, and served the city and the city band well for its over 90 years of service. For years, the bandshell was used for city band concerts, other musical performances, and as a private venue for all kinds of events, including weddings.

“Through all of the different things that we had here at the old bandshell, you can really see how that structure was embedded within our community and within the culture of our community. So, when a structural analysis showed that we could no longer use that facility, the band was forced to improvise and begin playing on this site on the grass, as they did back in the day before 1935.”

This decommissioning of the old bandshell occurred in 2022.

“As the city was trying to figure out how to replace the structure, the Hirvonen foundation approached the city,” said Swenson. “Linda (Hirvonen) came into my office and was looking for a legacy project to help fund. After some careful consideration, the foundation decided to make a generous donation to the city to kick this project off.

“The city commission accepted that donation along with a letter from the city band pledging to raise all the additional funds for the project, and agreed to name the structure the Peg Hirvonen Bandshell.”

The city chose AWH Architects, a firm out of Minneapolis, to design the structure. The firm collected significant community input before drafting a final design. Myron Construction was hired to build.

“What you see here is a testament to them making the investment to get this right,” said Swenson.

“What a year we’re having,” said Michael Stucko, Marquette City Band President. “We get to celebrate 140 years of being a community band, which is a big celebration all by itself — I mean, how many community bands in the country even exist for 140 years? What a day! We also get to open the Peg Hirvonen Bandshell today. I mean, everybody gets wowed by this thing. What a structure! We’re very excited to bring music to you that you’re going to be proud of in a setting that we all love.”

Stucko went on to thank all of the people who gave input to the structure, as well as fundraised and donated — especially the Marquette City Band Fundraising Committee and the Marquette City Band Board of Directors. The band was able to raise $2.3 million from 400+ donors to fully fund the project, including the donation from the Hirvonen Foundation.

“My mother was always a musical person,” said Linda Hirvonen. “My mom and my dad, Ray, rarely missed a band concert and that’s why we at the Hirvonen Foundation thought ‘this is a project we really want to see happen,’ and it absolutely exceeds our expectations. We are so proud to be a part of this and we know our mother would have been proud to know that she was our inspiration.”

Before the ribbon cutting, the Marquette City Band, led by conductor Dr. Stephen Grugin, played a specially composed song, titled “The Gem of Presque Isle.” The title refers to the new Peg Hirvonen Bandshell, and was dedicated to the bandshell’s architect, Namdi Alexander of AWH architects.

After the ribbon-cutting, which was performed by Linda Hirvonen, the band went on to play a shortened program.

“We’ve got some really cool music to really see what this bandshell can do,” said Grugin. The program included pieces by composers Robert Thurston, Rossano Galante and Carmen Dragon, which were performed to an immense and enthusiastic crowd.

The Marquette City Band’s next performance will be held at 6:30 p.m. on July 3 at Mattson Lower Harbor Park, with the theme “USA Freedom 250 Concert.”

The next city band performance at the Peg Hirvonen Bandshell will be held at 6:30 p.m. on July 16, with the theme “Children’s Concert.” This performance will celebrate 30 years of the MooseWood Nature Center on Presque Isle.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.