Marching through 60 years of diligent practice, winning prize after prize and generating civic pride, the Casper Troopers grew from a local operation to one that attracts young musicians from across the United States—and performs nationwide.
Hawaiian cowboys, competing at Frontier Days in 1908, kicked off Wyoming’s Hawaiian music (and culture) craze. The “paniolo” dominated the world championships that year. Wyomingites bought ukeleles, phonographs and records and attended Hawaiian plays, musicals, dances and concerts for decades. Interest was still strong well into the 1950s.
The Casper-based Wyoming Symphony Orchestra’s roots reach back to an all-amateur, no-budget ensemble of local musicians in the 1920s. Now, with a half-million dollar budget, an endowment fund and planned giving, the symphony performs difficult repertoire on few rehearsals—with a substantial number of its musicians from Colorado.
In the fall of 1970, two community orchestras in Wyoming celebrated the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. At a time of dedicated local involvement, audience turnout was good and civic pride for these performances overflowed.