Meet Gil Peltola, the music director of the Lee County Community Band

“Music is my life”

Born and raised in Fitchburg, MA, Gil began playing piano in grade four and alto sax in grade five. His passion for music grew through high school, where he played in the marching and concert bands, sang in the chorus, and played baritone sax in the orchestra. Gil also played in a jazz band with Rick Stepton, a local musician who played trombone with Buddy Rich. During his high school years, he saw the Buddy Rich Big Band many times. These big band concerts prompted him to make music his profession.

Gil enrolled at Lowell State College where he first majored in music education, then changed to music theory and composition. He also started playing in club bands, playing in Hyannis on Cape Cod, to the North Shore of Massachusetts. During this time, he learned that a music teaching position was open in his hometown of Fitchburg. His high school music teacher allowed him to apply for the position if he agreed to complete his teaching credentials. During his first year of teaching, Gil took education classes at Lowell State College and by the end of his second year of teaching, he had earned his teaching degree. He continued his pursuit of music and earned a Masters in Music Performance at the University of Lowell in 1981, again on alto sax. 

Gil taught middle school band and jazz band, and high school jazz band in Fitchburg for 19 years. After buying a summer house on the water in Maine, he and his wife, Karen, a teacher of Spanish and French, decided to make Maine their home. In 1992 he was hired to teach classroom music, chorus, and handbells at a middle school in Portland. After eight years, he moved to the high school, where he taught band, jazz band, and handbells, plus chorus, guitar, music theory and piano. He also taught insturmental lessons at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. Gil taught in Portland for 25 years, retiring in 2017, and moved to Cape Coral where he found the Lee County Community Band. Gil also plays with the Memory Makers Big Band.