History

Time just flies when you're having fun. While it has been a lot of work, the past twenty-five some years have been full of memorable moments. Here are but a few: Fall 1985 - A small group of students plays Baja at the Winter Band concert. 1986 - Performance at the Spring Band Concert. 1987 - The first evening concert, first half band soloists, second half percussion. 1988 - First Evening of Percussion Concert. First performance of Sabre Dance. 1989 - Fifteen members in the ensemble. 7th and 8th Grade Ensembles make first appearance. 1990 - The Drumline opens the show for the first time. 1991 - We perform our first Grade 4 selection – Blues and Cakewalk by Joshua Missal. 1992 - We perform our first Christmas selection – The Twelve Days of Christmas. 1993 - Twenty-two members in the ensemble. First Performance of El Cumbanchero. 1994 - Our 10th Anniversary season. 1995 - Our first Commissioning Series composition – Morning Dance is performed. 1996 - Concert series expands to two evenings. First performance of Rhapsody in Blue. Holiday Bells Mallets & Drums Concert Series premiers in December. 1997 - Concert series expands to three evenings. We purchase our first Malletech marimba, the 5-octave. Ensemble membership reaches 30 students. 1998 - We perform our first Grade 5 selection – Portico by Tom Gauger. African Ensemble premiers. 1999 - Our 15th Anniversary season. Kozue Jinnouchi returns as piano soloist on Rhapsody in Blue. 2000 - Elementary Honors Ensemble premiers. 2001 - Middle School Honors Ensemble premiers. 2002 - Ensemble selected to perform for Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference. We perform our first Grade 6 selection – Stained Glass by David Gillingham. Senior High Training Ensemble and Brazilian Ensemble premier. Ensemble membership reaches 44 students. We perform our first Concert in the Park. 2003 - Senior Ensemble performs all Grade 5 or 5+ music for the first time. 2004 - Our 20th Anniversary season. 2005 - Ensemble selected to perform for Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference. Spring concert series features three Grade 6 compositions. Holiday Bells, Mallets & Drums Concert Series celebrates 10th Anniversary. 2006 - Ensemble selected to perform for Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in Salt Lake City. Named a Malletech Artist Ensemble 2007 - Ensemble selected to perform for National Percussion Festival sponsored by Bands of America / Music for All. 2008 - Ensemble selected to perform for Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Annual Conference. March 2009 - Ensemble to perform for 2009 National Percussion Festival May 2009 - 25th Anniversary Celebration May 2010 - Ensemble selected to perform opening concert for 2010 National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy