Rediscovering lost traditions

For the past three weeks or so, I’ve been sorting and sifting through old band music from a civic band that unfortunately closed after the conductor died.  For almost thirty years, the band would play music then throw their concert folders into boxes, which in turn sat in a garage until very recently.  They played virtually all of the classic marches and band works, along with many lesser known works.  Some of the music dated back to the late 1800s.  As I had to sift through the music (which had become mixed with historical flotsam and a healthy dose of mold and dirt), I could feel the history in my hands.  I had lots of time to consider the band tradition--something I had not really appreciated before.  Bands really do have a tremendous history--going from Frederick Fennell’s wind ensemble to civic bands to Sousa’s band to military bands ranging back to and before Mozart’s day (all this without mentioning the extensive use of bands as a means to involve American students in the music making process).  It has touched many, many lives through its accessibility and participatory history, which have been overshadowed by the artistic success of the string/ orchestral tradition.  Surely there are whole other traditions (like the play-in-the-gazebo-in-the-summer-band).  What other traditions have been lost or overlooked?  How might we re-engage with them to connect the past with the future--and more importantly to connect people with each other?​