New Jersey Band Conference
presents
2009 New Jersey
State Band Gala
Sunday, April 26, 2009
2:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m.
at
Bridgewater-Raritan High School
600 Garretson Rd Bridgewater, NJ 08807
Select
this link for directions to
Bridgewater-Raritan High School
(in PDF format)
2009 Participating Bands
(Concert Order)
2:00
p.m.
Montgomery High School
Columbia High School
Bridgewater-Raritan High School
Edison High School
Morristown High School
Bergenfield High School
6:00 p.m.
Washington Township High School
Deptford High School
South Brunswick High School
John P. Stevens High School
West Orange High School
Randolph High School
*****
A
Message from the Chairman
of the
New Jersey Band Conference
Dear
Friends,
As we are all very aware, these are not the best of times
economically. For this reason, the executive board of the
New Jersey Band Conference has decided to scale back our
program offerings this spring.
The New Jersey Band Conference activities originally
announced for Friday, April 3, 2009 have been postponed
until next year. Although this event broke even last year,
we felt it would be prudent to put this event on hiatus for
a year until the climate for raising funds improves.
In order to save additional expenses, the New Jersey Band
Gala concerts for high school bands, originally announced
for Saturday & Sunday, April 25 & 26, 2009, are
being consolidated into one day, on Sunday April 26, with
the two concerts taking place at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. at
Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
In addition, the New Jersey Band Conference Jazz Gala,
originally announced for Thursday, April 23, 2009, will now
take place on Saturday, April 25, 2009, at The College of
New Jersey, which is assuming the sponsorship of this event.
Please be assured that the board members of the New Jersey
Band Conference are still fully committed to providing high
quality educational programs for the New Jersey band
community. Once the economic climate improves, we hope to
resume a full level of program offerings.
Sincerely,
John R. Pastin
Chairman, New Jersey Band Conference
Director, Rowan University Bands
Conductor, US Navy Band [retired]
*****
About
The
New Jersey State Band Gala
The New Jersey State Band Gala Concert is an annual
educational activity that serves between 750 and 1000 instrumental music students from New Jersey's public high schools in a day-long series of performances.
The Gala Concert is the culmination of a larger, statewide educational
program, the New Jersey State Band Festival, which encourages the participation of every high school band in the state. The twelve high school bands that perform in the Gala Concert are chosen through a series of three competitive preliminary rounds in three regions of the state: north, central and south. Each year, more than 150 high school bands from all over New Jersey participate in the preliminary rounds of the New Jersey Band Festival. Because of the high degree of preparation and practice that each band and its individuals members devote to this activity, the New Jersey Band Festival fosters personal growth and achievement for nearly 10,000 music students in New Jersey each year.
In years past, a very small proportion of New Jersey music ensembles were capable of more than a moderate level of achievement when compared to ensembles from other parts of the country. However, since the inauguration of the statewide festival, the level has improved dramatically. Currently, ensembles from the State travel to competitions throughout the United States and often to Europe and return with outstanding success. Such success can be directly attributable to the statewide band festival and the culminating Concert Gala. The Gala has become the foremost musical goal of bands in the State of New Jersey.
Now in its 26th season, the New Jersey State Band Festival was established in 1983 by Dr. William H. Silvester, Director of Bands at The College of New Jersey, who served as the festival's administrator for 15 years. In 1998, after fifteen years of operation, the festival grew too large to run at TCNJ, and so a new, expanded organization was developed, under the direction of Darryl J. Bott of the music education faculty at Rutgers University.
With the establishment of the New Jersey Band Conference, it was decided that the New Jersey State Band Gala Concert would take place as part of the conference.
The administration of the Gala is currently under the direction of John R. Pastin, formerly Conductor of the US Navy Band and currently Director of Bands at Rowan University.
Since the inception of the Gala, the number of music students staying within the State to study music has been remarkable. The road to the Gala has been a significant incentive to high-school age students to become involved in music and many of them see the benefits of staying in-state to study. In turn, the music education graduates of our schools are entering the field with higher goals and expectations. They have seen what excellence requires through the Gala and they are well on their way to raise the level of music in New Jersey even more.
