A local music association returned for its 50th season with a little help from the man who founded it in 1962 and from a Tabor Academy student.

The Tri-County Symphonic Band performed Sunday afternoon at Tabor Academy with conductor John Pandolfi, who started the group in 1962. The band comprises professionals, amateurs and students from Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth counties and performs five concerts in Marion and Mattapoisett each year.

The band is also supported through the Tri-County Music Association, which administers scholarships to college-bound and high school musicians.

Hannah Moore, a Marion resident and trombone player for the band, is also president of the association. As a long-time member of the band, she said Sunday’s performance was a special one.

“If you’re a musician in this area, the Pandolfi name is huge,” Moore said. “When they came to town, they upped the whole standard for music.”

Pandolfi opened the Symphony Music Shop out of his Marion home in 1962, and two years later moved it to Mattapoisett. He now lives in Whately.

Moore said the band is unique for the variety of people in it.

“I’m a music teacher at Sippican school, and some times you need to hang with grown ups,” Moore said jokingly. “Playing with other musicians is sort of a ‘night out’ for us. The band’s getting better, and it’s just a really cool thing, and to do what you love with these other people is exciting.”

Moore also said $12,000 has been raised by the association for the past three years for student scholarships

Sharing the limelight with Pandolfi was Sarah Purdy, a senior at Tabor Academy who soloed for Mozart’s “Clarinet Concerto, K. 622.” Purdy has been playing the clarinet since she was nine and has toured Europe with the Young Philharmonic Orchestra at the New England Conservatory of Music, and has received numerous scholarships and awards.

Purdy said her performance with the band came after many hours tucked away in the practice rooms.

“The whole thing went really well,” she said. “The band is great, and I’m honored to be able to play with them.”

The Tri-County Symphonic Band returns to Marion Friday Nov. 25 at the Lyndon South Auditorium at Tabor Academy.