Ranney Students Will “Make Beautiful Music” With The Atlantic Brass Band

The Atlantic Brass Band, one of New Jersey’s premier performing ensembles, will help celebrate Ranney School’s 50th Anniversary with a very special evening of music on Friday, October 30, from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in RSPA Panther Hall.

According to Kevin Cotter, a member of Ranney’s music faculty and president of the Atlantic Brass Band, the program will pair Ranney students and professional musicians in a unique concert setting. Although the band has worked with students in the past, this marks the first time they will collaborate with students ranging from 4th through 12th grades. It is also the first time the band will perform in Monmouth County.

The program, explained Mr. Cotter, “is a rare opportunity for Ranney students to work with professional musicians in a unique way.” The collaboration “will help students build intrinsic motivation in their practice of music,” he added.

The Atlantic Brass Band is a British-style band with approximately 30-piece instrumentation. Now in their 25th year, the band is comprised of professional musicians, educators, and community members and is the Ensemble-in-Residence at Rowan University. Their repertoire includes a wide variety of solo performances, small ensemble works, and a broad selection from opera, jazz, ragtime, Broadway, and movie soundtracks, to name a few.

Originally chartered as the Wheaton Brass Band in the early 1980s, Atlantic Brass Band has been proud to foster collaborative relationships with other brass bands in the region.

In 2007, Rowan University hosted the International Trumpet Guild conference, in which ABB performed with the Salvation Army NY Staff Band and the Imperial Brass Band, en masse. The Atlantic band has also performed internationally with a tour of Italy and two tours of England.

Students from Ranney’s 4th Grade Brass Band, 5th Grade Concert Band, Middle School Concert Band, and the Upper School Jazz Band, will join the Atlantic Brass Band in the program’s finale, “Classics in Brass,” which will feature music by Beethoven, Bach, the 1812 Overture and music from the film, 2001 Space Odyssey.

Ranney families and friends are invited to attend this special night of music and help us celebrate our Golden Anniversary!

For additional information on all Ranney School news, please contact the Communications Department at communications@ranneyschool.org.