Wheaton Municipal Band celebrates announcer's 35th anniversary

In many ways, Pete Friedmann personifies the Wheaton Municipal Band.

Those who know him best say the longtime announcer always knows the right thing to say.

"He has a way with the audience," band Director Bruce Moss said. "They just love listening to him. He'll find some little gem that will pique the audience's interest and he'll say just enough, just what they want to know."

Wheaton Municipal Band President Don Cavalli said over time, people have begun to look at Friedmann as "the face of the band."

"He's very polished and very professional, but he's also just so likable," he said. "We adore Pete."

On Thursday, the band honored Friedmann for serving as its announcer for 35 years. Moss read a poem about his sidekick that further exemplified what he means to the band and the Wheaton community.

"He has graced us this stage for 35 years, that's just two years less than me," Moss said. "That we both stuck it out, and continue grow, just amazes all here with some glee."

The band also played a piece titled the "Friedmann Fanfare," which was premiered at the band's July 7 concert, when composer Scott Boerma was in town serving as a guest conductor for the band.

"Pete knows us well enough that we're not good at surprises," Cavalli said, adding that the band officers and Friends of the Band agreed months ago to commission the piece, to gift Friedmann something that would last beyond his lifetime. "We wanted to kind of sneak this one in and totally surprise him. He had no idea that this was coming."

Friedmann said he was deeply moved by the piece and feels very fortunate to have been with the band for so long.

"I don't know if any other band announcer in the country has had music commissioned in their honor," he said. "To me, to have something like that done, to have music added to the concert music repertoire, it's almost beyond words."

When Friedmann started working with the band he was just a few years out of college. He was working at a Joliet radio station and served as the announcer for his alma mater Northwestern University's marching band - a role he still holds today.

It was at Northwestern that he met Moss, who encouraged him to apply for the announcer role with the Wheaton Municipal Band. When he was hired, the two realized they were complete opposites.

Friedmann has always tried to come into the concerts with well-researched, well-defined scripts on his clipboard. Moss would sometimes shoot from the hip when he got on stage. But over the years, as the band has continued to throw curve balls at them and raise the bar, Friedmann has adjusted.

"Over the years Pete has increased in his flexibility, almost to the point he laughs at us now," Cavalli said.

That includes a children's concert several years ago where Cavalli was dressed like a pirate and had a stuffed parrot toy sitting on his shoulder. When it kept falling off, Friedmann came over, picked up the bird and started calling him "Mini Moss."

"He was talking to this parrot, making what he was saying very interesting to the children, and at intermission the kids wanted to come up and pet Mini Ross," Cavalli said. "Pete engages with the audience."

Cavalli added that Moss and Friedmann have "a special friendship that's really fun to watch." The two of them agree and say they can't work without each other.

"Over the years he has grown to have a connection with me that involves some impromptu bantering and some shtick," Moss said. "We're very opposite of one another, but the reason it works is we have developed a bond where we totally trust one another."

Friedmann said he considers himself a host at the concerts, but also an audience guide and advocate.

Before each performance, he researches the music, the composer and any other interesting nuggets of information he can find about the selections. He also preps promotional announcements and mingles with the crowd before the concert begins to find out who is celebrating a birthday or anniversary that night.

"The trick is to get in a lot of information without making it feel like I've been droning on too long," he said.

Everyone agrees he's figured it out.

"He's a total pro at what he does," Moss said. "He's the absolute best fit for this."