March 28,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, On Wednesday, March 29, the Ridgewood High School Bands will perform their annual Spring Concert. The concert, which will be held at West Side Presbyterian Church, begins at 7:30 PM and admission is free. This concert will feature the school’s three curricular bands – the Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and Wind Ensemble – and will feature a varied, exciting program.
The Symphonic Band, under the direction of John Luckenbill and Jeffrey Haas, will begin the concert with William Owens’ celebratory fanfare Festival Proclamation. The beautiful Highbridge Excursions by Mark Williams, follows in the program with a nod to the Scottish folksong style, and Karl L. King’s famous American march Gallant Marines closes their portion of the program. The RHS Concert Band, also led by Luckenbill and Haas, will continue the program by opening with the up tempo overture River Valley Celebration, by David Gorham. Goddess of Fire, Steven Reineke’s epic programmatic work depicting the legend of Pele is next in the program, followed by John Philip Sousa’s popular march, The Fairest of the Fair.
Finally, under the baton of Jeffrey Haas, the RHS Wind Ensemble will perform the exciting Exultation, a fast-paced opener with rhythms borrowed from Latin dance genres, Life Dances, an overture celebrating the various stages of a person’s life, and Alfred Reed’s masterpiece Russian Christmas Music, a piece written for and originally performed at a concert held in 1944 as a means of easing Russian-American tensions during World War II.
The Ridgewood High School Band Program is Bergen County’s largest, comprised of more than 230 students who participate in no fewer than 15 varied musical ensembles. The curricular bands, marching band, jazz ensembles, chamber ensembles, winter color guard and twirlers have been acclaimed locally, regionally, and nationally for superior performance. Individually, members of the Ridgewood High School Bands are chosen annually to perform in honor ensembles at the county, regional, state, and national levels.
