About Gloucester Student Band
Gloucester Student Band (GSB) is a volunteer-led, 501c3 nonprofit group of student musicians in grades 4-12, independent from school band programs. Founded in 2022, GSB provides North Shore students of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels the opportunity to grow musically beyond the classroom, collaborate with peers, and build a lifelong love of music.
GSB is a recipient of an Awesome Gloucester Foundation grant and is funded in part by the Gloucester Cultural Council, which is part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
GSB Origin Story
It all started in the summer of 2022. The 2021-2022 school year had been a year of rebuilding the band program in Gloucester post-pandemic; 5th graders had missed their entire 4th grade year of band because of pandemic cancellations, so they were about to enter middle school in the 2022-2023 school year with only one year of experience instead two. Jamie Klopotoski (Gloucester Elementary School Band Director) decided to volunteer her time over the summer to give students a little more time with their instruments before entering middle school. The group (mostly 5th graders with some 8th grade helpers and adult volunteers) practiced once a week and had two performances, as the opening act for the Rockport Legion Band and the Cape Ann Community Band.
Fast forward to December 2022, Jamie was asked to put together a group of students to play Christmas Carols for a fundraiser hosted by the Gloucester Fishtown Horribles Parade. The group included students in grades 5-10, many of whom had performed with the summer band. The group was then asked to play at the Shaws Grand Re-Opening, and at the Gloucester 400 New Year’s Eve celebration. Inspired by the positive experiences from both the summer band and the Christmas caroling group, the students decided to form an official group to play regularly together for the community. They chose the name Gloucester Student Band (GSB) and made a goal to practice at least once a month and perform once a month (more in the summer). They received a $1000 grant from the Awesome Gloucester Foundation to help with startup costs (including stands, binders, sheet music, and t-shirts), and secured the basement of Trinity Congregational Church as our practice space. In March 2024, GSB was granted 501c3 Nonprofit Status. In August 2024, GSB embarked on their first ever summer tour: two days and one night in New Hampshire with 4 performance stops. In August 2025, GSB had their 2nd annual tour to the Worcester Area with stops at a nursing home, Auburn Recreation Complex, WooSox Baseball Game, and Southwick Zoo.
