Oklahoma Musicians

Tulsa County

Musical history, people, ensembles, photographs, and source material from the Oklahoma Musicians Library.

The musical history of Tulsa County.

Tulsa County has a substantial documented band history, although the surviving online record is uneven. The strongest findings are: Broken Arrow's school band program was founded in 1929 and has a documented director sequence through 1999; Tulsa hosted the National High School Band Contest at Skelly Stadium in May 1931; Tulsa's volunteer community-band tradition is traced by one local account to an American Legion Band formed in 1938, while the organization's official history identifies a 1967 founding by Tulsa Parks and Recreation; and Tulsa-area women's music institutions, especially the Hyechka Club, helped establish school and concert music infrastructure from 1904 onward.

Read the county history →

Read the full account, chronology, named ensembles and people, source links, and research notes. These library reports reflect their original research passes; related records below may add later evidence.

Explore the county collection

88 linked records. Connections follow county names and communities documented in the sources; they do not establish a birthplace, exact historical boundary, or continuous residence.

Photographs and visual sources.

Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Sweet music to the ear of Lloyd Waner, Pittsburgh Pirate scout, is the turned out by Tommy Warren, the Tulsa Oilers happy-go-lucky pitcher, who pulled up a backstage piano at the Junior Baseball Jubilee at the Municipal auditorium Friday night."
[Photograph 2012.201.B1396.0186]Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Sweet music to the ear of Lloyd Waner, Pittsburgh Pirate scout, is the turned out by Tommy Warren, the Tulsa Oilers happy-go-lucky pitcher, who pulled up a backstage piano at the Junior Baseball Jubilee at the Municipal auditorium Friday night."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph of Jacky Smith in a band uniform, member of the Kindness Club, Tulsa, OK, Aug. 1948.
Jacky SmithPhotograph of Jacky Smith in a band uniform, member of the Kindness Club, Tulsa, OK, Aug. 1948.Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "The Oklahoma A&M., Stillwater, chapters of Sigma Alpha Iota, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma are presenting Jeanne Gentry Waits, organist, in recital at 8:14 p.m. Tuesday in the College Auditorium."
[Photograph 2012.201.B1389.0169]Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "The Oklahoma A&M., Stillwater, chapters of Sigma Alpha Iota, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma are presenting Jeanne Gentry Waits, organist, in recital at 8:14 p.m. Tuesday in the College Auditorium."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Thursday morning gates will open, flags will be unfurled and the band will blare forth, opening the oil industry's greatest show: The International Petroleum Exposition at Tulsa."
[Photograph 2012.201.B1299.0178]Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Thursday morning gates will open, flags will be unfurled and the band will blare forth, opening the oil industry's greatest show: The International Petroleum Exposition at Tulsa."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Johnny Lee Wills / Musician"
[Photograph 2012.201.B1376.0316]Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Johnny Lee Wills / Musician"Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Hursch, of Tulsa, a piano pupil of Jerome Rappaport at Tulsa University."
[Photograph 2012.201.B0302.0244]Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Hursch, of Tulsa, a piano pupil of Jerome Rappaport at Tulsa University."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Ensemble

Cargoe

c. 1967–1973 documented

Ensemble

Tulsa Community Band

Formed in 1967; first concert July 13, 1967; active when reviewed in 2026

Ensemble

Tulsa Winds

Current; parent institute founded 2018