Raritan Valley Symphonic Band
“An American Soundtrack – Celebrating our 250th”
Sunday June 14, 2026 @ 3pm
Bridgewater-Raritan High School
600 Garretson Road, Bridgewater, NJ
– Free Admission –

The Raritan Valley Symphonic Band presents its annual Pops concert, “An American Soundtrack” on Sunday June 14 at 3PM. Under the direction of Music Director William Berz, the concert will be held at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, 600 Garretson Road, Bridgewater, NJ. Admission is free!

The RVSB’s final performance for the 2025/26 season celebrates USA’s 250th anniversary on Flag Day with an all-American program of patriotic pieces and marches, plus works reflecting our American culture.

 The concert begins with Henry Fillmore’s America Exultant that includes the famous patriotic song “My Country Tis of Thee”. Karl King’s Coast Guards is one of sixteen marches written in 1942 to support our country’s involvement in World War II.

American culture is represented by Pierre LaPlante’s American Riversongs featuring historical songs from our country’s many rivers, by Paul Murtha’s arrangement of Bruce Springsteen’s hit song Born to Run, and by Warren Baker’s arrangement of classic Cole Porter songs in Cole Porter on Broadway.

The concert’s second half features all American patriotic works starting with John Philip Sousa’s US Field Artillery march.

Bob Lowden’s Armed Forces Salute honors the men and women of our Armed Forces featuring each branch’s official march song. Veterans of each branch will be recognized during this performance conducted by Assistant Conductor Frank Amato.

Three separate arrangements of great American patriotic songs will be performed: God Bless America (by Irving Berlin), The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and America the Beautiful (by Samuel Augustus Ward). The latter two were arranged by prominent American conductor,
composer, and arranger Carmen Dragon.

The concert concludes with Edwin Franko Goldman’s On the Mall, a sing-along/whistle-along march written in 1923 that has been a classic for wind band repertoire.

RVSB comprises about 70 musicians from the northern and central New Jersey area. Band membership includes professional musicians and music educators, as well as amateur musicians ranging in age from high school through retirees.

Music Director William Berz is Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University where he served on the faculty for 42 years and was Director of the Music department for 11 years. Dr. Berz has led the RVSB since 2022.

Assistant Conductor Frank Amato has been the principal saxophonist of the RVSB for over 10 years and was recently appointed as the band’s Assistant Conductor. He is currently the Director of Bands at Abraham Clark High School in Roselle, NJ.

This concert is funded, in part, by a grant from the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission. For more information about the band please visit www.rvsb.org.