DCWS Opens 45th Season with Free Outdoor Concert at Palmer Park
Season opener brings more than 30 musicians, community organizations and activities to the historic Palmer Park Bandshell
RSVP & More information at: https://detroitchamberwinds.org/performance/ppb/
Event info: Sunday, September 13, 2026 | 2:00 PM | Palmer Park Bandshell
Detroit, MI — Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings (DCWS) launches its 45th season on Sunday, September 13 at 2 p.m. with a free outdoor concert and community celebration at the Palmer Park Bandshell. The season opener features conductor Damien Crutcher, Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Timothy McAllister and Kenneth Thompkins, former principal trombone of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, alongside more than 30 professional musicians for the largest DCWS performance to date.
The DCWS concert is just one feature of the afternoon. Guests are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets and arrive early to explore Palmer Park, grab food from local food trucks, visit booths featuring area music nonprofits and enjoy activities including face painting, caricature artists and cornhole. A student performance kicks off the event at 1:45 p.m., Following the DCWS concert, a DJ set from 3:30 to 5 p.m. will keep the festivities going and give audiences another reason to stay and enjoy Palmer Park.
The concert opens DCWS’s 45th anniversary season, 45 Years & Flourishing: Celebrating Our Legacy. Cultivating Our Future. Throughout the season, DCWS will celebrate the musicians, collaborations, educational partnerships and community connections that have shaped the organization over more than four decades while looking ahead to the people and ideas cultivating its future.
The performance is part of DCWS’s Structurally Sound series, which explores the relationship between music, people, and place. For the season opener, that idea comes to life in one of Detroit’s newest outdoor performance spaces.
The Palmer Park Bandshell has a story of its own. Originally located at the historic Michigan State Fairgrounds, the Bandshell was saved from demolition in 2021 and relocated to Palmer Park, where it was reconstructed using portions of the original structure. The restored venue officially opened in August 2025 as a new home for concerts, cultural events, and community gatherings.
“Opening our season at the Palmer Park Bandshell gives us an opportunity to celebrate music in a place that already has such a great Detroit story,” said Maury Okun, DCWS President. “The Bandshell has been given a new life, and we’re excited to celebrate its return with this special performance. We want people to come early and make a whole afternoon of it.”
Under Crutcher’s direction, more than 30 musicians will take audiences through a “history of bands” program spanning concert band classics, music with Detroit connections, contemporary works and pieces reflecting American history and culture. A performance of this scale is made possible through the generous support of the community, including the Music Performance Trust Fund and the Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local 5 of the American Federation of Musicians, as well as support from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
The program opens with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Procession of the Nobles and includes Gustav Holst’s Second Suite in F, Bernhard Heiden’s Diversion featuring McAllister, and John Wasson’s Hitsville, U.S.A. (40 Years of Motown). The second half includes Ayatey Shabazz’s Of Honor and Valor Eternal, a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, Omar Thomas’s A Mother of a Revolution!, and a selection of works by Arthur Pryor, Billie Eilish, Arthur Sullivan, and John Philip Sousa.
The event is free, but attendees are encouraged to RSVP in advance at detroitchamberwinds.org. The first 250 people to RSVP will receive a voucher redeemable at the event for a free DCWS hat.
With its combination of live music, local organizations, food, games, and a historic Detroit venue newly returned to public use, DCWS’s season opener is designed to be an afternoon for the whole community.
This performance is generously supported by the Music Performance Trust Fund, the Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local 5 of the American Federation of Musicians, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
DCWS would like to thank People for Palmer Park and The City of Detroit Parks & Recreation for their support with this event.