About the Concert
On Sunday, June 8, 2025, at the historic Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Pride Band said a fond farewell to its longest-tenured Artistic Director, Pete Nowlen, as he conducted his last concert for the Official Band of San Francisco. As the concert’s title suggests, Pete left the Band …On a High Note as he moved on to enjoy retirement.
The program mixed familiar music with new pieces, including the world premiere, its first performance anywhere, of American Epic. The Band commissioned the piece from composer Carlos McMillan Fuentes through its BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Commission Program. American Epic paints a picture of the Band through the decades, from its founding in 1978 as the first openly LGBTQ+ musical organization in the world to the present day.
The concert also featured George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with Fuentes as piano soloist. Pete chose the rest of the program himself.
The Program
- American Epic | Carlos McMillan Fuentes (world premiere)
- Rhapsody in Blue | George Gershwin, Carlos McMillan Fuentes, piano
- Chamak | Reena Esmail
- To a Liberator | George Frederick McKay
- Tundra | Nubia Jaime-Donjuan, conducted by Mike Wong
- Monkey Business | David Lovrien