Glen Ridge Music Parents Association

Welcome to the Glen Ridge Music Parents Association Web Site

GRMPA News & Updates

Welcome to the 2024-2025 School Year, Music Parents!

Hello Parents!! 

It’s August again and the new Marching Band Season is finally here, with school and all the other music programs close behind!

We have some important Marching Band housekeeping items we wanted to share with you:

  1. The Drum Major and Captains use Google Classroom and section text chats to communicate. Dr. Gage will set up the Classroom and reach out to band members to join, and the Captains and Drum Major will create the text chats as needed. There are no adults in these conversations and they are used only for Marching Band business and silliness. We assure you these are safe spaces for them and participation is important so that the student leaders can quickly send info out to the band. 
  2. Questions about Band Camp, captain led practices, schedules, etc. should come from students and sent to either Dr. Gage (dgage@glenridge.org) or the Drum Major (Eleanor Riedy: eleanor.riedy@glenridge.org). Parents and GRMPA Committee members do not always have the latest or complete info, so we please have your student reach out to Dr. Gage or Eleanor. 
  3. We are looking to begin prop/set building August 24/25. Other dates will be added as necessary. We will need all kinds of help, from construction to painting. Whatever help you can offer is alway appreciated. This is a great way to meet parents and if you can spend an hour or half a day with us we would love to have you! Even stop by for a cup of coffee and see what’s going on! We will send out times/place as they are decided. 
  4. The first GRMPA meeting for the school year will be on Wednesday, August 28 at 7 p.m. in the GRHS Cafeteria – this will be focussed on the upcoming Marching Band Season specifically. It will be a bit of a social as well as an informative meeting and encourage you to attend – you will meet other parents and gain valuable information. 

Thank you!! We are looking forward to seeing you all soon! 

Gosia White and David Riedy
Co-Presidents

Night Under The Stars!

Join us this coming Thursday (5/12/2022) at 7:00 pm for a night of Wine Tasting, Live Jazz, and Dancing at the Bloomfield Steakhouse!

The night will feature the Porch Daddiez Trio (the wonderful Glen Ridge musicians Doug Andrews, Paul Byrne, and Steve DeLuca) with guest vocalist Kristy Graves.

Limited Occupancy so get your tickets ASAP!

Our thanks to Bloomfield Steak & Seafood House and our sponsors, Glen Ridge Pharmacy and Organic Vintages.

GRMPA Pancake Breakfast is back!

After a 2 year hiatus, the GRMPA Pancake Breakfast is back! Celebrating FIFTY YEARS of this wonderful Glen Ridge tradition which brings the entire community together for a morning of delicious pancakes and sausages!

Eat breakfast served by Glen Ridge High School music students as you catch up with old friends and neighbors, and make new friends! Eat with joy knowing you’re supporting terrific Glen Ridge High School music programs such as Marching Band, Concert Band, Chorus, Jazz Band, and Percussion and String ensembles.

Buy your tickets below or it’s $10 pp at the door!

50th Annual Pancake Breakfast

50th Annual Pancake Breakfast

Buy now

Brought to you by the Glen Ridge Music Parents Association

JAZZ COFFEE HOUSE IS BACK!

LIVE AND IN-PERSON at The Glen Ridge Women’s Club on Thursday, April 7th at 7:00 pm.

Listen to wonderful jazz music performed by our HS and MS Jazz Band students! Best of all – Attendance is free!

Light refreshments will be served. If you enjoy the evening, there will be a donation jar where you may contribute and support our GRHS and GRMS music programs.

IMPORTANT – GR WOMEN’S CLUB POLICY:

  • You must show proof of vaccination OR proof of negative Covid test within 24 hours of event (home test doesn’t count) AND wear a mask except when actively eating/drinking
  • Please do not attend in-person events if you are unwell

The Women’s Club of Glen Ridge is located at 219 Ridgewood Avenue, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028

Jazz Coffee House - Thursday, April 7th at 7:00 PM at The Women's Club of Glen Ridge

GRMPA 2021-2022 Citrus sale has ended.

You can no longer order citrus for delivery this spring. If you have already ordered fruit for March 2022 delivery, those deliveries will be made by students on March 5, 2022.

Thank you for supporting Glen Ridge music programs!

GRMPA Citrus Store open: Order now for March 5, 2022 Delivery

Dear friends and neighbors,

Thank you for your wonderful support of the GRMPA fruit sale. In addition to all the fruit you purchased to support Glen Ridge music programs, you were incredibly generous in donating fruit as well! You donated over 700 LBS of citrus to Toni’s Kitchen and an additional 600 LBS of fruit to the Human Needs Food Pantry. WOW!

The fruit sale is now open again at https://grmpa.square.site for March Delivery! If you’re enjoying the fruit you got last weekend, then order by February 18, 2022 to get another batch delivered to you on Saturday, March 5, 2022.

Go to https://grmpa.square.site to order!

  • GRHS Music Students and GRMPA Parents unloading and bagging citrus
  • GRHS Music Students and GRMPA Parents unloading and bagging citrus
  • 700 lbs of citrus delivered to Toni’s Kitchen in Montclair
  • 600 lbs of citrus delivered to Human Needs Food Pantry in Montclair

Buy Tickets for Autumn Sings 2021!

Support Glen Ridge High School Chorus! Autumn Sings 2021 is happening live and in person on Thursday, Nov 18th, 2021 at the Old Canal Inn (2 E. Passaic Avenue, Nutley, NJ).

Purchase your tickets below! Seating is limited so don’t procrastinate!

There are two sets with 9 performers in each set. The list of performers in each set is listed below. You can buy tickets for Set 1, Set 2, or both. Sarika Ramanathan will be the MC for both sets.

Covid-related info: Please have your vaccine card ready to show. If not available, we are asking that you wear a mask once inside when not eating or drinking to protect all of our community. Seating will be at 50% capacity. 

Purchase tickets for Set 1:

Set 1 begins at 6:00 pm and will end at 7:30 pm. Scheduled to perform in Set 1 are:

  • Amy Majewski, Ava Handler, Billie Rivero, Chloe Novoa, Freddie Ramirez, Gia DeLuca, Julian Novoa, Lola Zimet, Mr. Pavliv with Dr. Gage and Mr. DeLuca
Ticket Type

Note: You will be able to add the number of tickets you wish to purchase after you click “Add to Cart”

Purchase tickets for Set 2:

Set 2 begins at 7:45 pm and will end at 9:15 pm. Scheduled to perform in Set 2 are:

  • Ashlyn Leung, Ellie Hudon, Gaby Slim, Jane Nakamoto, MollyJane Boyle, Rylee Allen, Sarika Ramanathan, Walter O’Brien, Mr. Pavliv with Mr. DeLuca
Ticket Type

Note: You will be able to add the number of tickets you wish to purchase after you click “Add to Cart”

Autumn Sings 2021 at The Old Canal Inn!

GRMPA’s popular Citrus Sale is back! Order now.

The Spring 2022 citrus sale, GRMPA’s biggest fundraiser of the year, is now live! Click on the link below to order delicious grapefruit, oranges, and clementines (new this year!) delivered by students right to your door if you live in Glen Ridge and surrounding towns. Delivery will be on Saturday, March 5, 2022.

Order by Friday, February 18, 2022 and all that deliciousness and your money goes towards a wonderful cause, supporting Glen Ridge High School music programs! You can also double up on your generosity by ordering fruit to be donated to either Toni’s Kitchen or the Human Needs Food Pantry in Montclair, NJ.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Important note: This year, all ordering will be ONLINE ONLY.

The Glen Ridge Music Parents Association thanks you for your support and your generosity!

Glen Ridge Marching Band: 2021 National Champs!

Yes, family, friends, alumni – you read that correctly! The Glen Ridge Marching Band went into MetLife Stadium on a crisp, cold Saturday morning in November (11/6/2021) and stepped off at 9:15 AM at the USBands National Championships.

The band executed a nearly flawless performance of their 2021 show, Caravan: A Journey through Big Band Jazz and walked away with 1st Place in their class – Class 1 Open. In doing so, they beat a slew of other exceptional high school marching bands, including two – Wayne Hills and Lenape – that had each scored better than they had just the week before. Furthermore, the GRMB were the only group in it’s class to receive an average score higher than 90!

Congrats to this incredible, hard-working group of kids on this singular achievement and kudos and thanks also to the team of exceptional instructors that guided them this year, led by Marching Band Director Dr. Darren Gage – LizAnn Tomassi, Steve DeLuca, Jay Curcio, Daniel Nathanson, and Justin Romano.

You can enjoy watching this 1st place award-winning performance here: 2021-2022 GRMB videos

USBands 2021 National Champs!

Attend GRMB’s Big Finale Weekend at MetLife – 11/6/21

Our award-winning Glen Ridge Marching Band closes out the 2021 season this Saturday (11/6/2021) early morning! STEP OFF time for the USBands Open Class National Championships is at 9:15 AM at MetLife Stadium (1 MetLife Stadium Drive, East Rutherford, NJ). Full schedule for the day is below.

TICKET INFO: Let’s get a huge turnout of family, friends and alumni at the stadium and cheer loudly for our students. If you are able to do so, Advance Tickets may be purchased from Dr. Gage directly, CASH ONLY, at any point up to and including the morning of Saturday 11/6. Tickets cost $35 each, which is $2 off the face value of $37, and our music program gets back a few dollars for each one sold. So please buy your tickets in advance to save yourself money and help out our program. It must be with CASH from Dr. Gage directly (exact change preferred).

Full Schedule:

  • 6:45am — Full uniform inspection/Bus departs for MetLife Stadium
  • 7:15am — Arrive at MetLife Stadium
  • 9:15am — GRMB Performance
  • 10:30am — Awards (approximate)
  • 11:00am — Bus departs East Rutherford
  • 12:00pm — Dismissal from HS (approximate)

LET’S GO GRMB!


credit: Julie Stolte 2021