Youth Wind Ensemble of Greater Bergen County

Trip Brochure

Slides from tonight's info session

While we didn't get enough students registered to tour in 2023, we are excited to offer our concert band tour next summer in July 2024. Register now to attend our Zoom meeting on October 12 at 7pm.

https://bergenfield.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lc-yrrjkvG9TyDqOrGv1cWTKpGwLnnAAM

This time next year, we will be ready to head out on our own concert tour! We still have space available for all instruments.

Here's an interview on NorthJersey.com where I talk about the Youth Wind Ensemble of Greater Bergen County and our upcoming Summer 2024 Ireland Concert Tour.
https://youtube.com/live/qGd1XbLihx4?si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE&t=2807

2023 Bergen County St. Patrick's Day Parade Coming to you live from Bergenfield, NJ, the 2023 Bergen County St. Patrick's Day Parade, Sunday, March 12, with our pre-show kick off at 1:45 p.m. and the p...

The Youth Ensemble of Greater Bergen County was honored to have our inaugural performance at the Flag Raising Ceremony for the 41st Annual Bergen County St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The ensemble accompanied Joe Hall of the band Nine Mile House on the national anthems of Ireland and the USA.

I am excited to announce that the Youth Wind Ensemble of Bergen County has just been given our first performance opportunity. The Council of Irish Associations of Greater Bergen County has asked us to provide accompaniment to singer Joe Hall on the National Anthems of the Republic of Ireland and the United States at the Flag-Raising Ceremony prior to the Bergen County St. Patrick's Day Parade this Sunday afternoon, March 12 at 1pm. While this is obviously short notice, the musical arrangements are not difficult and I am confident that we can make them sound fantastic after a short rehearsal.

Here are the details:

Rehearsal:
Saturday, March 11, 2023 from 1-2pm at Bergenfield HS, 80 S. Prospect Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ (Indoors in Band Room)

Performance:
Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 1pm at Roy W. Brown Middle School, 130 S. Washington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ (Outside in front of school)

Call time is 12:30pm

No specific attire is required, since it will be cold. You are welcome to wear Irish sweaters or the like (if you own one) or your band uniform if you are performing in the parade with your HS group.

We should be finished by 1:15pm so that performing marching band members can return to their groups.

If you are interested in playing for this inaugural event, please email me as soon as possible and no later than Thursday evening at [email protected].

Please include your name and instrument in the email.

Our friends at Kaleidoscope Adventures putting on a great Ireland concert tour for the students of Lyme/Old Lyme High Schools in Connecticut. We are looking forward to a similar trip in 2024!

Honored to be an Aide to the Grand Marshal at this year’s parade.

A wonderful night at our Installation Dance for our 2023 Aides, Gunning Award Recipients, and our Grand Marshal, Steven M. Baxter! Many thanks to our friends, sponsors, and guests!

Two important announcements:

1) While I was initially hopeful that we would have enough students to run the Ireland concert band tour this summer, we have not met the necessary enrollment threshold to be able to proceed with this plan. However, interest in the trip was very positive and I am happy to announce that we plan to reschedule the tour for the summer of 2024!

This will also allow for a much less compressed payment schedule and ample time for planning and fundraising. Any students who are graduating HS in 2023 would still be eligible to participate in the 2024 tour. We are open to having college students participate. Rehearsal dates would be scheduled around typical college semester end dates. We are still working out the exact travel dates, but our tentative travel dates would be around July 3-12, 2024. I should have exact dates in the next few weeks. I hope you will still consider joining us in 2024.

2) The Youth Wind Ensemble of Greater Bergen County, initially formed for this trip, will begin rehearsing shortly. Our first performance will be on Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 1pm. The ensemble will perform the national anthems of Ireland and the United States at the flag-raising ceremony prior to the start of the 2023 Bergen County St. Patrick's Day Parade. This year, I am honored to serve as an Aide to the Grand Marshal for this annual event. I will be in touch shortly to ask for your availability to participate in this inaugural performance, as well as rehearsals and a concert later in the spring.