Huntington Beach music director celebrates 40 years at the helm

The Huntington Beach Concert Band was on the verge of dissolution when Tom Ridley stepped in as its director.

Now he’ll be celebrated with a tribute concert Sunday for leading the group for 40 years.

“It’s been a great ride with great people,” Ridley said. “The band is my second family.”

When Ridley, 71, of Huntington Beach was hired as the group’s leader in 1977, it was down to about 20 members.

Ridley had been working as a high school music teacher. Before that, he earned a bachelor’s and master’s in music from Cal State Long Beach and served in the 72nd Army band from 1970 to 1973 at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro.

“As I tell people, one of the few things I ever won in my life was the draft lottery,” Ridley said.

Under his tutelage, the Huntington Beach group has swelled to about 85 members and become known in the community for its free summer series in Central Park, which can attract 1,500 to 2,000 people.

This is a far cry from the modest summer concerts decades ago when the park didn’t have a bandstand, so the group would perform under trees and “acorns would fall in the tubas,” Ridley said. The young leader also had to contend with the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, which ended the city’s funding of the band.

The park is now equipped with a bandstand bearing Ridley’s name.

Councilman Patrick Brenden, who proposed naming the bandstand after Ridley earlier this year, said Ridley likely rescued the group from “extinction.”

“Tom came in during the lean times and his leadership saved it,” Brenden said. “He’s done a lot of good in the community. We are lucky to have him.”

Ridley said his passion for music stems from his mother, who played violin.

“She used to feed me on schedule according to the classical music stations,” Ridley said.

Now he’s driven to play a role in the preservation of concert bands, recently joining the board of directors of the Assn. of Concert Bands, an international organization. Ridley also is director of the Covina Concert Band.

Concert bands were a popular form of entertainment during the early 20th century, but the changing social zeitgeist fueled by lighted screens and short attention spans may pose an obstacle for their future.

“Who knows, 10 to 15 years down the road I suspect concert bands will still be around, though the numbers may be dwindling as the population shifts and the world changes,” Ridley said.

But Ridley said he has no plans to step down from his role with the Huntington Beach Concert Band.

He set up the program for Sunday’s concert with some of his favorite pieces, with plenty of patriotic tunes like “Americans We” by Henry Fillmore.

A piece composed specifically for the concert, “Alive with Hymn” by Dr. Ed Huckeby, also will be played.

The concert, titled “Of God and Country,” will begin at 4 p.m. at the Rose Center Theater at 14140 All American Way in Westminster.

“The members of the Huntington Beach Concert Band and I are so very happy to celebrate Mr. Ridley’s 40th year directing our band,” said Linda Couey, the band’s general manager.

“Over the course of his tenure, the HBCB has become one of the premier community bands in the country,” she said. “This is completely due to Mr. Ridley’s dedication and ability to bring the best out of his musicians.”

For more information about the event, visit hbconcertband.org.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot