Glen Ridge Music Parents Association

Welcome to the Glen Ridge Music Parents Association Web Site

GRMPA News & Updates

Halloween! A BIG weekend for GRMB

Halloween Weekend 2021 is an important weekend for the Glen Ridge Marching Band! GRMB has two critical competitions scheduled for this weekend:

On Saturday, October 30th, GRMB travels down to Old Bridge High School in Old Bridge, NJ for the US Bands State Championships. Step Off is at 5:00 pm. If you are planning to go, the address is Lombardi Field (3439 County Rd 516, Old Bridge, NJ).

On Sunday, October 31st, Halloween Day, GRMB travels very early in the morning all the way down to Trenton to The College of New Jersey to compete in the NJMBDA State Championships! Step off is at 9:30 AM! Again, if you are planning to go, the address is  2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ. Plan for a 90 minute drive.

We hope to see a huge parent turnout to cheer our kids on to an amazing performance at each competition!

2021 Spiritwear Fundraiser Sale!


Dear Glen Ridge Music Families,

GR Flannel Pajamas on the Spiritwear Store
GR Flannel Pajamas

Our annual spiritwear fundraiser sale is now open for a limited time! Some new items this year — as well as familiar staples with band and chorus logos.  All $ raised will help fund future band and chorus expenses.

Hard as it may be to believe right now, it will soon be cold / wet during band season. The water resistant jacket is a great thing to have for students and parents, as is the spectator blanket for keeping warm in the stands. And the Glen Ridge flannel pajama pants are always a favorite.

Also new this year — warm hat, scarf, duffel and Glen Ridge socks! 

Click here to go directly to the store. Or you can go to the general Academy Apparel site (choose Glen Ridge Music under Online Stores) here . Ordered items will be delivered directly to you, or picked up locally if you prefer.

Store closes 9/10. Thanks for your support!

JAZZ IN THE GARDEN!

MONDAY, MAY 24, 6:00 PM @FREEMAN GARDENS

Come watch the Glen Ridge Middle School and High School Jazz Bands perform at Freeman Gardens this Monday at 6:00 pm (rain date is Tue, May 25th). What a beautiful place to relax and listen to wonderful music and support our talented students!

IMPORTANT: Attendees should bring their own picnic blankets or lawn chairs (and any snacks and refreshments) to relax and enjoy the performances. Also, please continue to practice safe social distancing (6′ apart) from other attendees when you set up your lawn chairs or blankets.

Jazz in the Garden
Live Jazz at Freeman Gardens, Monday, May 24th, 2021, 6 pm

Our 1st ever GRMPA Trivia Night was so much fun – and a fundraising success!

On the evening of Saturday, March 13th, 2021 at 8:00 pm, 15 awesome teams consisting of over 40 participants in all, gathered on Zoom and competed in GRMPA’s inaugural trivia Night fundraiser. Families, friends, faculty, and neighbors all got together for a couple hours to connect, reconnect, forget about their troubles, and raise money for a great organization. The evening was a blast with lots of trash talk, laughter, and entertainment. Supported by MC Kris Ramanathan and scorekeeper Sarika Ramanathan, our fabulous Quiz Master, Keval Ramanathan, kept the pace moving with amusing and challenging questions.

Most importantly, between team registrations, donations, and a generous sponsorship from ENT & Allergy of $500 (along with a chocolate gift basket for the winning team), we raised over $2,000 for Glen Ridge music programs!

And of course, with the inaugural trivia night, there also has to be an Inaugural Trivia Night Winning Team! And that honor went to Team Baby Zoomer, with members TrishaTuriano, Anthony Turiano, Margo Garrison, Geoffrey Darby, Lizann Coleman, and Tom Coleman! They own bragging rights forever!

Anthony & Trisha Turiano, members of winning team,Team Baby Zoomer, with chocolate gift basket donated by ENT & Allergy

GRMPA’s 1st Trivia Night Fundraiser!

Dear GRMPA Supporters,

Announcing GRMPA’s first ever trivia night fundraiser!
Limited to 16 teams so sign up ASAP!

UPDATE: WE ARE FULLY SOLD OUT FOR TRIVIA NIGHT!

BUT YOU CAN STILL DONATE TO GRMPA IF YOU WISH!

Trivia Night will be held on MARCH 13, 2021 AT 8:00 PM

Register your team of family, friends, and neighbors and compete to win a challenging trivia game, raise funds for Glen Ridge Music Programs, and bragging rights for smartest team! We recommend at least 3 people per team* but the more the merrier and the higher the chance someone on your team knows the answer!! (*Note: if you have only 2 or 3 people on your team, we may assign additional people to your team or put you together with another team of two so that more people can participate – and you’ll get to make some new friends!)

  • Choose “Team Registration” option to register and pay for an entire team of players.
  • Choose “Individual Registration” if you are paying just for yourself whether you are part of a team or if you don’t have a team and wish to be assigned to a team.

Since this is a fundraiser, you also have the option to add a donation to GRMPA on top of your registration fee, if you wish.

Click here to register for GRMPA’s 1st ever Trivia Night!

GRMB finishes season strong – 5th at USBands National Grand Finale, 3rd in Creative Effect!

In a difficult season (to put it mildly), the Glen Ridge Marching Band rose up to the challenge and finished their season exceptionally strong with their 2020 show, PETER AND THE WOLF: They placed fifth in their division (Div 1) at the US Bands National Grand Finale and 3rd with an incredible score of 97 in Creative Class.

Because of the pandemic, all Grand Finale performances were recorded on video and sent in to the USBands judging committee for review instead of USBands judging live performances. While this was another challenge, it also created a unique opportunity for creativity with how the video was edited and presented. Sophomore Eli Fellus, Saxophonist and Soloist, put together an exceptionally fun and creative way to present the show which certainly played a part in helping this exceptional group of students do so well this season. You can watch the final video submission below.

Congrats to these incredible students, to Dr. Gage and the amazing staff, to all of the parents who showed up to make props, to roadie, to feed the kids, to help in any way and every way to make this show and season a huge success.

Peter and the Wolf, US Bands Grand Finale Movie submission

GR Marching Band excels in 1st ever virtual competition!

(via Dr. Darren Gage, Director of Bands, GRHS)

The results are in from our first (ever) virtual competition, and the students’ strong performance earned Glen Ridge a top-10 finish against other Division 1 programs from around the country. We scored a 77.5, which was good enough for 6th place out of the 17 bands in our division. The recap can be found in the link below, and you can click on any band (including GRMB) to watch their performance. I’d encourage you to explore the incredible diversity of individual, small ensemble, and full band productions, and you can also check out the “Creative Class” videos, for which multiple cameras (drones!) and things like graphics are permitted.

https://www.flomarching.com/results/6797117-2020-usbands-demoulin-invitational/28177

For those who were able to watch the live stream of the awards yesterday, it was awesome to see our band, and Anna’s backyard salute, slotted in with schools from Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Minnesota, and Idaho. Yes, Idaho. The top score in Division 1 was earned by our local friends at Wayne Valley HS, meaning we collectively made sure that New Jersey was well represented in the top 10 (Immaculata HS from Somerville also won Creative Class). In the end it was very emotional for me to see these teachers, students, and band parents from all over America putting in the hard work necessary to have a safe band season — to create art and performance out of crisis, and to do it as a family and a community. It reminds all of us how important arts education is, especially at times like this.

I’m so very proud of our GRMB family and the honest, hard work we’re putting in. 

Order 2020 GR MUSIC Spiritwear now!

Hello GR music families, Our annual spiritwear store is now open! Stock up on your marching band and chorus shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, pants, fleece, jackets, pj’s, bags, and more, as well as plenty of GR general items.

All $$ raised will help Glen Ridge Music Parents fund future marching band and chorus trips and expenses.

Store closes Sunday, Sept 13. so order soon at the link below:
https://academyapparelnj.tuosystems.com/stores/glenridgemusicfall2020  

Band Director’s Report for 2020-2021 Season

(from June 3 GRMPA Meeting Minutes)

  • GRHS Band Director Dr. Darren Gage spoke about how difficult it is to deliver education to students. He misses seeing them every day.
  • A Big Welcome to new music parents (incoming 9th graders). Your kids are really important and your support for the program is vital. (email from Dr. Gage was sent out to new parents on June 3rd).
  • Dr. Gage has been involved with the GRMB for 30 seasons (since his own participation in high school) and can attest to the fact that GRMPA is the most effective booster and fundraiser in Glen Ridge!
  • We are still up in the air with regard to what will happen with the music program this summer and in the fall.
  • Dr. Gage is on the high school reopening committee. There are unique challenges with establishing safety standards for the music program going forward: the physical logistics of playing together — particularly our wind instrumentalists (a lot of saliva and heavy breathing in a small space) How do we do this safely?
  • The show we will be performing this year will use the music for ​Peter and the Wolf​ by Sergei Prokofiev. We are going ahead with the assumption and the hope that there will be a traditional live field show and Dr. Gage has been designing it and working on the music since December.
  • Lizanne, director of our Color Guard, has also been working on the choreography. We have a theatrical style marching band and we are eager to have as many color guard members as we can (students who like theatre, dance, acting, performance).
  • Dr. Gage would like everyone to know that “we are the fall sport that will not be denied. We will make it something amazing and powerful even if it means doing things online or in other venues. We are more flexible than traditional sports, as we have a wider range of what we can do. We are all artists. The show can be performed indoors or online or we can make a video. No one will cancel it!”
  • The GR Music Program includes chorus, marching band (fall, very time consuming), concert band, jazz band, winter pep band, percussion ensemble (directed by Dr. Burja), chamber music ensembles and pit orchestra. Concert band is the heart of the program. We would like students to keep playing music all year long.
  • During the summer months, we will work on learning the show in person and socially distanced or online.
  • Band camp will be 8/24-8/28. Mandatory. Virtual band camp or on the back field.
  • School year: 9/1 will be the first practice. New Schedule: Tuesday – Thursday, 3:30 – 6:00pm. There will be a hard dismissal at 6:00pm to avoid having students leave at different times. Friday practice nights will go a bit later: 3:30 – 6:30 pm.
  • Rookie students begin on Sunday, 8/23, in the afternoon. Marching Band Drum Major, Drill Sergeant and captains will also be in attendance. There will be pizza and team building activities.
  • Marching Band competition schedules are very much in flux due to social distancing requirements. Dr. Gage will likely focus on 2 MB circuits with one being quite local. We will hopefully end the season at METLIFE Stadium in the Meadowlands.
  • Thank you parents for supporting your students during this crazy, difficult time. We are not musically isolated. Music is a balm for the soul. It makes everyone feel better (musicians and those listening). Music makes us feel connected in many ways!
  • GRMB is unstoppable and will not get cancelled!!