On a Tuesday afternoon in southwest Baltimore, the booming sounds of drums and trumpets pour out of the halls of Fulton Avenue Baptist Church. Inside, kids of all ages practice their techniques under the watchful eye of their band director, Dennis Lee.
This exciting swell of music is merely a prelude to a summer of boisterous performances that will expose its young band members to sweeping opportunities across the nation.
“Through the program we taught him how to play tuba, how to read music, how to write music.” Lee said. “He graduated high school, check one, he then went off to college [and] played in his college band, Florida A&M The Rattlers.”
From there, the program grew into a place where kids all over Baltimore could learn to play and expand their horizons. Lee was content with this role, until the tragic death of one of the program’s members encouraged him to re-think the band’s mission.
“It really hurt us,” Lee said. “We realized there has to be more to it.”
From there, Lee hit the ground running and began reaching out to colleges and working to aggrandize the Marching Elite’s capabilities.
