Thanks for visiting! We are a community band of 75+ amateur and professional musicians who have been making and enjoying music for three decades. Don’t miss one of New Jersey’s premier volunteer musical organizations in their 30th concert season!

- May 14th, 2014

Raritan Valley Symphonic Band Announces New Director

Debut at annual pops concert; “Let Freedom Ring!”

Bridgewater, N.J., May 9, 2014— Announced today, the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band (RVSB) will be led by a new band director, Dr. Christopher Sumner.

Dr. Sumner will make his inaugural debut as Artistic Director and Conductor at the annual RVSB Pops concert ”Let Freedom Ring”, on June 1, 2014 at 3pm in the Bridgewater-Raritan High School auditorium. For 14 years, he has been the Instrumental Music Director at Piscataway High School in Piscataway, New Jersey. Prior to that appointment, he taught at Rutgers University, Seton Hall University and Union County College. He received his Master of Music from Mannes College of Music and his Doctor of Musical Arts from Rutgers University.

“Doc”, as he is affectionately known in school, is also an active professional musician—as a conductor and performer. In addition to his tenure at Piscataway H.S. as director of the Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, he has also been a guest conductor for the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, and Rutgers University Wind Ensemble, as well as assisting Maestro Mariusz Smojli with the Riverside Symphonia. He has conducted and played in dozens of musicals and is currently the reed substitute for the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse. Dr. Sumner is also the associate principal clarinetist of the Riverside Symphonia for which he is also the personnel manager and contractor. He has also performed with numerous other orchestras, concert bands and jazz bands across the country, including the Allentown Symphony, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and Aspen Jazz Ensemble, as well as with Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville on their East Coast Tour in 2004.

More information on Dr. Sumner and this concert can be found in the press release here.

- March 18th, 2014

RARITAN VALLEY SYMPHONIC BAND PRESENTS “FOLK FESTIVAL”

Bridgewater, NJ, April 13, 2014 — The Raritan Valley Symphonic Band (RVSB) will present its annual spring concert Sunday April 13, 2014 at 3:00 pm in the Bridgewater-Raritan High School auditorium. The school is located at 600 Garretson Road, Bridgewater, New Jersey. Admission is free and open to the public.

Under the musical direction of Meredith S. Boyan, this concert, titled “Folk Festival”, will feature folk melodies from England, Russia, Korea and the United States. The band will perform musical works of some of classical music’s greatest composers and big names in wind band— Aaron Copland’s “Variations on a Shaker Melody”, “Folk Dances” by Dmitri Shostakovitch, “Folk Song Suite” by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Percy Grainger’s “Shepherd’s Hey”, to name a few.

More information available in the press release here.

- January 21st, 2014

The Raritan Valley Symphonic Band (RVSB) will present its annual children’s concert Sunday February 2, 2014 at 3:00 pm in the Bridgewater-Raritan High School auditorium. The school is located at 600 Garretson Road, Bridgewater, New Jersey. Admission is free and open to the public.

This concert is a great opportunity for children to learn to recognize musical instruments, while sharing a cultural performance with parents. Under the direction of the newly appointed RVSB Assistant Conductor, Meredith S. Boyan, children will listen to music they can (and are encouraged to) dance to! “Russian Sailors’ Dance” from The Red Poppy, “Symphonic Dance No 3 ‘Fiesta’ “, by Clifton Williams, “The Waltzing Cat” by Leroy Anderson, folk dances, marches and more. Children should also keep an ear open for a familiar circus song, “The Silver Fountain Waltz”, by K.L.King.

A musical instrument “petting zoo” will follow the 45 minute concert. This demonstration of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments will be given by members of the band and will take place in the lobby of the high school auditorium.

Meredith S. Boyan teaches the Symphonic Band, Concert Band and instrumental lessons at Mountain Lakes High School. She also directs the Blue Notes Jazz Band and is the Assistant Director and Producer of the annual theater productions. A graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, Meredith earned a Master of Music degree in Wind Ensemble Conducting and Literature and a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in Saxophone and Music Education. Just last year, she was the recipient of the College Band Directors National Association Conducting Grant. This grant provided Meredith with an opportunity for professional development and participation at conducting workshops sponsored by academic institutions across the country.

More information available in the press release here.

- January 14th, 2014

Hello, the RVSB is currently beginning a search for a new Music Director / Conductor. Please see the document here for the job description.

- November 12th, 2013

RARITAN VALLEY SYMPHONIC BAND PRESENTS: A SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION

A symphonic concert that includes holiday favorites

Bridgewater, N.J., December 8, 2013— The Raritan Valley Symphonic Band (RVSB) will present its annual winter concert on Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 3:00 pm in the Bridgewater-Raritan High School auditorium. The school is located at 600 Garretson Road, Bridgewater, New Jersey. Admission is free and open to the public.

The band will perform a concert titled, “A Symphonic Celebration” under the musical direction of three talented guest conductors. The band will liven up the holiday season during this program by performing “Suite from the Nutcracker,” by Peter Tchaikovsky arranged by James Curnow, “A Chanukah Celebration” arranged by David Bobrowitz, as well as Leroy Andersons’  “A Christmas Festival” and “Sleigh Ride”. A few featured songs will also include “William Byrd Suite” by Gordon Jacob and Robert Sheldon’s “Rhapsodic Celebration”.

With nearly 25 years of combined musical experience, this audience will be fortunate enough to hear the band play under the baton of three guest conductors; Meredith S. Boyan, Mountain Lakes High School Band Director, Jeffrey Smith, Rutgers University graduate candidate, and Daniel Zugale, Ridge High School Director of Bands.

Read more in the press release here…

Our concerts are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and are administered by the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission through the State/ County Partnership Local Arts Program.