COOPERSVILLE COMMUNITY CONCERT BAND
The Coopersville Community Concert Band was formed in January of 2003 by Coopersville High School Band director, Luanne DeVries, to provide a place for local adults to continue playing their instruments. The group has provided many fine performances at no cost to the community since it began. CCCB operates under the umbrella of the Coopersville Area Arts Council, and is an all-volunteer, non-profit community band.
The 50+ members of the CCCB rehearse on Monday evenings at the Coopersville High School band room from 7:00-9:00. Conducted by retired band directors Luanne DeVries and Tom Harsay, the band plays good quality concert band literature from the classics to movie music to marches to ragtime. There are no auditions for the group, and no dues are paid. The group covers expenses by accepting individual donations given by generous community members and grants from local community groups.
Rehearsals for the 2023-2024 season will begin on Monday evening, September 11, 2023. To inquire about joining the Coopersville Community Concert Band, contact Luanne DeVries at devries@coopersvilleccb.org or call 616-826-7267. See the calendar page on this site to see the schedule for the 2023-2024 season
COOPERSVILLE ALUMNI ALLEY CATS JAZZ BAND
The Coopersville Alumni Alley Cats Jazz Band, directed by Luanne DeVries, started in the summer of 2000 as a way for a group of Coopersville band alumni to get together and play again. Every summer since then, the Alley Cats have performed in Coopersville and the surrounding area from mid-July to mid August. Current membership includes Coopersville alumni as well as several musicians from Muskegon, Holland, Grand Rapids, Spring Lake and Ravenna.
Rehearsals begin in mid-June at the Coopersville Middle School band room on Monday evenings from 7:00-8:30. The final performance for the band is usually during the Coopersville Car Show which takes place on the 2nd Saturday in August.
The Alley Cats is a partner group to the Coopersville Community Concert Band There are no auditions for either of these groups and no dues paid. All involved are volunteers, including the directors. All concerts are free to the public. Contact Luanne DeVries for further information about the Alley Cats Jazz Band or the Coopersville Community Concert Band at devries135@gmail.com or 616-826-7267.
BIO FOR LUANNE DEVRIES
The conductor and founder of the Coopersville Community Concert Band is Luanne DeVries. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Central Michigan University, and is retired after teaching 37 years in music education, first at Whitehall Public Schools, then Wyoming Public Schools, and, for the last 31 years of her career, at Coopersville Public Schools. She taught band 5-12, elementary music, high school and middle school choirs during her teaching career, but spent the majority of that time teaching high school band.
She has been very fortunate to have many outstanding students throughout her career, and this fact led her to start a community band in Coopersville. She always told her students that one of the positive outcomes of being in band is that you are never too old to play your instrument, but realized that there were very few places to play outside of an educational setting. Since its beginning in 2003, the Coopersville Community Concert Band has provided free concerts to the Coopersville area community and a place for area musicians to play their instruments.
Luanne is married to husband Doug, and has 2 children and 5 grandchildren. When not doing something musical, she likes to read historical fiction and suspense novels and travel. Contact information: devries@coopersvilleccb.org or 616-826-7267