About our history
The Waterloo Concert Band continues a long tradition of amateur community and military bands in Southwestern Ontario.
The Band traces its roots back to 1858 as the village brass band, evolving into the band of the Waterloo Musical Society in 1882, making it one of the oldest continuously active ensembles of its kind in Ontario.
Many gifted conductors have held our podium, including legendary musician-entrepreneur, C.F. “Professor” Thiele (1884-1954) who arrived in Waterloo in 1919. We are also privileged to have had some of Canada’s finest composers write commissioned works for us, such as the iconic Howard Cable (1920-2016).
Past Conductors
| Henry Glebe | 1864 – ? |
| Schroeder | ? – ? |
| Thomas Schmidt | 1880 |
| Theodore Zoellner | 1881 |
| Noah Zeller | 1882 – 1900 |
| W.H. Walker | 1990 – 1902 |
| Mr Arthur | ? – ? |
| A.W. Stares | 1902 – 1903 |
| Henry Restorff | 1903 |
| W Philp | 1903 – 1910 |
| W R “Fritz” Paul | 1910 – 1914/5 |
| J Pillar | 1915 – 1916 |
| E Trovarelli | 1916 – 1918 |
| Charles Frederick Thiele | 1919 – 1951 |
| Fred Roy | 1951 – 1954 |
| C.O. Hunt | 1954 – 1955 |
| William Gallagher sp? | 1955 – 1962/3 |
| John Conrad Jr | 1962 – 1991 |
| John Tickner | 1991 – 1995 |
| Cam McBain | 1995 – 1999 |
| Denise Swarzentruber | 1999 (fall) |
| Allan Lee (Susan Baxter) | 2000 – 2002 |
| David Knarr | 2002 (summer) |
| Martin Lacoste | 2002 – 2006 |
| Trevor Wagler | 2006 – present |