DeKalb’s Municipal Band will not be traveling abroad next summer to celebrate the anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France, due to financial constraints.
They originally had been selected to be the only band from Illinois to perform in D-Day celebrations.
Conductor Kirk Lundbeck says the DeKalb Municipal Band was not able to raise the needed funds. But he says there still may be other performance opportunities to come for the band, which could include playing in Washington, D.C., Mount Rushmore or Pearl Harbor in 2019.
“The opportunity’s there, the organization still wants us to perform, the Department of Defense still wants us to take an active role in their celebrations, but it just will not be in Normandy in 2018,” Lundbeck said.
Lundbeck says he submitted the application for the band to perform in France back in April. He says the total bill for the whole band to travel to Normandy would have been $175,000.
