From Cafeterias to Concert Halls: Our Journey to the Center

Every community band has its share of oddball stories. Our journey to the center is just better acoustically documented.

We’ve rehearsed in basements, borrowed classrooms, and old cafeterias. We’ve performed in pizza joints, airports, and churches. But no matter the space, the Jackson Hole Community Band has always shown up—music stands in hand—ready to make something beautiful, even if it was under a flickering fluorescent light next to the mop sink.

Now? We have a home at the Center for the Arts. But getting here was a journey.

Rehearsals: Building a Band One Room at a Time

Long before the Center for the Arts was even a sketch on a napkin, Jackson’s original high school stood proudly at Glenwood and Simpson. Built in 1930, it served generations of students—including several of our longtime band members—and saw its last graduating class in 1980 before being condemned. It had one brief encore a few years later, then took its final bow.

We began rehearsing in the metal annex building behind it in 1989, which at the time housed the high school’s band and choir rooms—part of a patchwork campus that also included 5th and 6th grade classrooms. That metal building still stands today —does anyone know what it’s used for now?

From there, we rehearsed all over the valley, chasing down space wherever we could find it:

• The old Junior High, where Jackson Elementary stands today
• The Jackson Hole Middle School band room, with lockers echoing down the hall
• The “new old” Jackson Hole High School, replaced by Colter Elementary
• Then back to the original high school again—this time crammed into a pair of adjoining classrooms before the demolition to make way for the Center for the Arts

In 2004, we moved into the unfinished basement at St. John’s Episcopal Church. It was chilly and dim, but we made it work—with a few stand lights and a lot of layering.

By 2006, we had a spot above the pottery studio in the Center for the Arts. Don and a few other dedicated members even built a rolling platform for the Trap Set and tucked a makeshift storage closet into the corner.

Then, finally—in 2007—we moved into the Performing Arts Wing of the Center. A real rehearsal room. With actual Acoustics. Built for musicians.

After decades of packing and unpacking, setting up in classrooms and church basements, we had a space we could call our own.

A Stage of Our Own

Our first performances weren’t in grand halls—but they were full of heart. We played wherever the community would have us: churches, school gyms, sidewalks, and one very memorable grocery store. It wasn’t always glamorous, but it was always genuine.

Over the years, we’ve performed just about everywhere:

• Cafés and pizza parlors with crowds squeezed between tables
• Church sanctuaries that doubled as concert halls
• Retirement homes, rec centers, and elementary schools
• Ballfields, parade routes, and bank lobbies
• The Pink Garter Theater, Snow King Center, The Virginian, and Jackson Town Square

All told, we’ve played in more than 45 different venues across the region. Some of those only had room for our off-shoot groups—like TubaChristmas and small ensembles—but every space, no matter the size, helped share the music.

Each venue came with its own quirks—some charming, some chaotic—but all part of what makes this band such a resilient, roll-with-it group of musicians.

And while we’ll always have love for the places that hosted us along the way, having a true concert stage—one designed for live music and built with care—has elevated our performances and our audience’s experience alike.

A Haunted Turn for the Better

Since 2010, our Halloween Concerts have taken place at Walk Festival Hall—yes, that Walk Festival Hall, world-renowned for its sound. There’s something deliciously ironic about playing Danse Macabre in a venue that usually hosts classical greats. It’s been a thrill to bring a little spooky fun to such an iconic space, and the Acoustics? Gives us goosebumps.

Old Bills Keeps Us Centered

Today, the Center for the Arts is truly our home. It’s where we perform our Holiday and Spring concerts on a stage built for sound—and where we rehearse most Thursday nights in a room actually designed for musicians. After years of making do with basements, tight corners, and borrowed spaces, having both a proper rehearsal room and a professional stage lets us focus on the music, not the setup.

But performing in a space like the Center isn’t without its price tag. Rehearsal space, time on the theater stage, and storage for our library and equipment all come with costs—and they’re essential to keeping the band running smoothly.

When you support the Jackson Hole Community Band through Old Bills, you’re not just helping us sound our best—you’re helping us keep the band open to anyone who wants to play.

Author’s Note:

As librarian, I’m constantly coming across sheet music stamped “Jackson-Wilson High School”—a name the school hadn’t gone by since 1973. Pieces of the past are tucked all over this band’s story, and I love unearthing them.

Digging into the story of the old high school has been an unexpected treat. Damon (my husband and our fearless parade driver) graduated in 1980—the same year the building was condemned. Years later, both of our boys passed through its doors during its second life as a 5th–6th grade campus and later the Kindercampus. When I joined the band in 2003, we were rehearsing in those echoey old classrooms, just before the wrecking ball showed up.

Damon worked on the mechanical systems for the new Center for the Arts building as part of MECHCO. The plans sat on our kitchen table many evenings—a constant reminder of how much family and history are wrapped up in that place.

Even with all that personal history, I’ve learned more about the school in the past few weeks than I ever knew living through it.

Be sure to check out the wiki about Jackson-Wilson High School.

—Julie Wilson
Band Librarian & Resident History Sleuth