RCB director Chris Wilhjelm (R) with Jean-Luc Wastable (L), the director of L’Harmonie La Croix Valmer in Cannes in 2012. They will be reunited later today as the RCB and L’Harmonie share a concert at West Side Presbyterian Church on October 18th!.
OCTOBER 16, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015, 12:30 AM
BY BETSY MURPHY
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Brush up on your bonjour and bonsoir so you can greet any of the French band members and/or their families who might be sauntering the village streets this weekend.
Thirty members of L’Harmonie La Croix Valmer are leaving their village in southeastern France to spend time in ours. They are here to perform with the Ridgewood Concert Band (RCB) on Sunday evening at West Side Presbyterian Church. It’s old stuff – they’ve done it before; but no less exciting for the players involved.
RCB started out as a village band in 1983. One of its founders, Chris Wilhjelm, had wanted to assemble a concert band of adults to play challenging literature. “A group of adults playing for the joy of mastering the music,” was his dream.
“Our goal was unique,” states Wilhjelm. “We tried to be a community band with a mission a little different from other community bands in our area. We programmed serious literature right from the very beginning.”
Their repertoire and their reputation grew. “We have a reputation for playing high-end literature,” he can say today. “Our programming is as ambitious and aggressive as the finest professional conservatory ensembles in the country.”
The concert, Sunday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. at West Side Presbyterian Church, will be performed by the RCB, with Dr. Chris Wilhjelm and L’Harmonie, with Jean-Luc Wastable and will feature the music of Saint-Saëns, Sousa, and Giroux. L’Harmonie will be performing a wide range of pieces from the French Can Can (Offenbach) to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with a trumpet soloist. A highlight of the program will be the RCB’s performance of Camille Saint-Saens’ “Hail! California,” which was written for the Panama-Pacific Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915. Arranger Peter Stanley Martin will speak about bringing this classic back to life at a Pre-Concert Talk at 6 p.m. (This event is free with concert ticket).