A Dedicated Conductor…and So Much More

The members of the Minnesota State Band are grieving. Joe Komro was the unpaid, volunteer Band Conductor for nearly 40 years, and his presence is deeply missed.

The public saw Joe’s musical leadership and his never-ending energy for band activities. Band members appreciated the same things but saw so much more. They experienced and benefited from the endless behind-the-scenes work Joe did for the band. Joe planned, coordinated and scheduled all band activities, including all performances and the band’s six concert tours of Europe. He managed band personnel and all the details that go with maintaining a cohesive organization. He maintained the band’s large music and instrument inventory and handled most of the day-to-day business activities. He wrote, designed and printed the concert announcements, posters, programs and associate member communications, press releases and more.

Joe was a master concert planner. He carefully crafted programs with great variety, guided by Sousa and community band traditions of performing both current popular and symphonic music.  He knew what audiences enjoyed and tried to perform “something for everyone.”

Joe loved and took great pride in the Minnesota State Band. He was especially proud of the fact that while several states had bands in times past, Minnesota’s is the only official state band in the nation today.

The band played its final tribute to Joe at his funeral at St. Agnes Church in St. Paul on February 25. In keeping with music that had special meaning to Joe, the band performed America the Beautiful, Ave Maria, Shenandoah and Where Eagles Soar. As final notes echoed through the cathedral, Interim Conductor Faye Anne Tetzlaff commented softly, “Joe would be so proud.”  In the silence that followed, the extent of our loss rested heavily on us.

The band is moving on, but our memories of Joe are a strong common heritage for everyone in the band.

Remembering Joe

Joe Komro was born on December 30, 1944, the youngest of 10 children. He was a lifelong resident of the Frogtown area of St. Paul. Joe died on February 19, 2005 of cancer.

Joe’s interest in music started early. While a student at St. Agnes High School, he became an accomplished clarinet and saxophone musician. During his service in the U. S. Army, Joe both conducted and performed in military bands. Throughout his lifetime, Joe received many awards, including international recognition, for his dedication and community services through music. Of special meaning to him was his selection to be the conductor of the Massed Bands of All Nations at the EUROFANFARES ’93 International Music Festival in France.

Professionally, Joe was an accountant, retired from a long career with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

Many years of Joe’s life were devoted to meeting needs of people he loved. He cared for both his parents and an older sister before they died. In the early 1990s, Joe began to financially support a boy in Croatia who had lost his father in war. That started a close friendship and a series of visits that continued until Joe’s death. Ivan Peric, now 27, came to St. Paul to care for Joe in his illness, and returned again for the funeral.  “Ivan was to my brother the son he never had,” Joe’s sister recently commented.

Three brothers and a sister survive Joe.