RHS continued its legacy of musical excellence with the Wind Ensemble’s phenomenal, by-invitation-only performance at the New Jersey Music Education Association (NJMEA) State Conference, held in Atlantic City on Thursday, Feb. 20.
RHS was one of only four high school wind ensembles selected to perform on this stage in 2025. The last time the group was invited to perform there was in 2016.
“Playing at the state music conference is a big deal,” said RHS Band Teacher Nicholas Fantazzi, who directed the ensemble.
Fantazzi explained that ensembles must first apply and be accepted in order to perform. The conference committee looks at what honors the band achieved in past years and listens to a recording of the group from the previous year. “Playing at this conference is a big honor for The Bands of Randolph,” he said, naming the collection of student musical groups at RHS that include the Wind Ensemble.
Prior to the performance, the Wind Ensemble prepared a varied repertoire, including pieces ranging in difficulty, style and length. Knowing that music educators of all specialties and grade levels would be in the audience, the ensemble hoped to inspire selections for upcoming concerts.
The group opened with Gustav Holst’s “Second Suite in F for Military Band,” which included four movements to successfully feature the different styles of each section. Soloists included junior Katelyn Perren on euphonium, senior Riley Brown on clarinet, senior Anya Srivastava on trumpet and junior Cassidy Chaudhari on piccolo.
The Wind Ensemble continued the program with two more recent works: “Tripwire” by JaRod Hall and “To Gently Serenade” by Richard L. Saucedo. Student musicians who were featured in the latter work included junior Sophie Visser on flute, Chaudhari again on piccolo, and senior Ashley Rondon on French horn.
“My favorite part was being able to play for people that really appreciate the music we’re performing and what we’re here to do,” Brown said.
The set continued with senior Angela Remick being featured on trumpet in the piece “Chasing Sunlight” by Cait Nishimura. Because this work had been previously performed by Symphonic Winds, several seniors were able to revisit this music on a larger scale at the event.
The ensemble finished its performance with “Fracas” by Randall D. Standridge. This upbeat, fast and jazz-influenced arrangement created the perfect closer for Randolph, igniting the audience as well as the musicians themselves.
“My favorite piece was ‘Fracas’ because it’s so upbeat and exciting,’ sophomore Everett Palumbo said. “It makes me feel the music while I’m playing.”
This performance marked a new milestone for the Bands of Randolph and Wind Ensemble. “This performance was specifically challenging because of the amount of music we needed to learn,” Fantazzi explained. “Typically, we are preparing around 15 minutes of music each concert cycle, but for the conference, we had to learn double that amount.”
