Editor’s update: The Marine band on 8/17, Fritz Coleman is on at 5:30 p.m. and the band starts at 6 p.m. Dahleen is playing a recording of last year’s Marine Band performance from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Idyllwild’s free Summer Concert Series (ISCS) at the Butterfield Amphitheater continues Thursday, Aug. 17, with another tradition, the United States Marine Corps Division 1 Band. The band has been visiting Idyllwild or over 40 years, and has participated in every ISCS since the series’ inception in 2000. There will be no opening act due to the complexity of the stage and sound set-up required for a concert band of this size, and the music begins at 7 p.m.

ISCS Vice President Pete Holzman said the Marine Corps Band has “been a mainstay in the concert lineup for most of our 22 years … and a favorite of the concert goers.” In past years, the Corps has sent up its 18-piece jazz ensemble from San Diego and its Combat Center Band from 29 Palms. The Division 1 Concert Band has, in the past, brought up 45 to 50 musicians for these shows.

The 1st Marine Division is the oldest, largest and most decorated division of the Marine Corps. Headquartered at Camp Pendleton, the division is a force of 22,000 men and women organized to conduct combat operations. The Wind Ensemble is regarded as one of the finest military ensembles in the United States today. The concert band performs traditional marches, overtures, instrumental solos, classical transcriptions and patriotic favorites.

It performs regularly throughout Southern California, and across and outside the continental United States. Highlight performances include the annual Fleet Week Celebration in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Rose Parade, and the WW I Annual Remembrance Ceremony in Belleau Wood, France.

The band represents the Marine Corps in the western U.S. and traces its origins back to WW II. The 1st Division was then stationed in Australia, and a band was fielded to play for the celebration of George Washington’s birthday in February 1943. It performed the Australian bush ballad “Waltzing Matilda,” and this became the official march of the division.

The return of the Marine Corps Band is a reminder of ISCS President Ken Dahleen’s years of service in the band. Enlisting as a teenager in the hope of being sent to Vietnam, Dahleen said the corps decided it needed a clarinetist more than another foot soldier. Dahleen remained in the service for 12 years.

ISCS is Dahleen’s gift to Idyllwild. As the director of his Big Band Staff, he can field varied ensembles up to a really big band, and meets the best tribute bands in the region. Each year he cycles through a varied roster of crowd-pleasing acts providing something for everyone, always a few surprises and always the Marines. As a musical contractor, he has the crew and equipment to produce these big outdoor shows that bring locals and visitors of all ages and musical tastes together.

These concerts are free to all and supported entirely by donations. This year’s budget is $36,900. The team “passes the hat” at the event, and those who can give more are invited to send contributions, checks payable to “Idyllwild Summer Concert Org,” to P.O. Box 1542, Idyllwild CA 92549-1542 or call (760) 413-4638.

Remember that temperatures drop in the summer evening. Come prepared with an extra layer to Butterfield Amphitheater, 54201 Ridgeview Drive, accessible through the Idyllwild Community Center Playground parking lot on Highway 243 just south of town.