Grand Ledge Bands

and Ledge Wind Symphony performed at the 10th Annual Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan in January, 2015. In March of 2012, the Wind Symphony made its first appearance in Carnegie Hall. In addition to an extensive concert season, all three concert bands, as well as various chamber ensembles, participate in the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association sponsored festivals. In 1985, the Grand Ledge High School Band became one of the first high school bands to receive the Louis Sudler Flag of Honor. The Sudler Flag of Honor was the brainchild of Louis Sudler, a Chicago realtor and vice-chairman of the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Selection criteria for this annual award are very stringent. Recipients of the Flag of Honor must demonstrate exceedingly high standards of excellence at the international level over a period of several years. Only sixty-eight bands from the United States, Canada, and Japan, have received this award since its inception in 1983, and Grand Ledge is currently the only band from Michigan to be honored with this recognition. The Grand Ledge Bands have appeared with the following distinguished guest artists, composers, conductors, and educators: Karel Husa, Warren Benson, H. Owen Reed, David Maslanka, Leslie Bassett, Ross Lee Finney, Samual Adler, Frank Ticheli, David Gillingham, Daniel McCarthy, H. Robert Reynolds, Frederick Fennell, Leonard Falcone, Harry Begian, Eugene Corporon, Claude T. Smith, Kenneth Bloomquist, John Whitwell, Ray Cramer, Frank Ell, Charles Vernon, Douglas Campbell, James Forger, Daniel Stolper, Philip Sinder, Richard Illman, Joseph Lulloff, Curtis Olson, Lance LaDuke, Kevin Sedatole, Tavia Zerman, Michael Kaufman, and Mary Schneider. The Grand Ledge High School Band program has an enrollment of 180 students in grades nine through twelve.