{"id":91540,"date":"2017-08-17T06:01:47","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T11:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=91540"},"modified":"2017-08-17T06:01:47","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T11:01:47","slug":"celebrating-90-years-of-vwhs-bands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2017\/08\/17\/celebrating-90-years-of-vwhs-bands\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating 90 years of VWHS bands"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of today, many students are back in school.\u00a0Parents are probably celebrating and children are sad that another summer has come and gone.\u00a0But this also signals the start of school marching bands and a new football season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Van Wert High School is a unique school when it comes to band programs.\u00a0Since its inception in 1927, there have been just five band directors leading the VWHS Band.\u00a0The patriarch is Leonard Wolf, who was there from the beginning through the 1940s.\u00a0<\/span>In the decade of the \u201850s, it was Herb Jones who led the band and choir.\u00a0Then in the \u201860s through 1976, Van Wert native Jay Hall returned to lead the band.\u00a0My friend, Anthony Alessandrini, took over from Jay Hall and stayed at the helm from 1976 through the new millennium.\u00a0Since 2002, Robert Sloan has been the director.\u00a0That\u2019s just five head directors in 90 years.\u00a0That\u2019s pretty incredible!<\/span><\/p>\n

Stability, along with excellent teaching, is what establishes excellent music programs.\u00a0It is quite an enviable record, given the turnover at many schools.\u00a0Even football coaches don\u2019t last that long anymore.\u00a0Those who have are most often successful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Sloan and the current Cougar Marching Band, along with alumni band member Matt Alessandrini (yes, Mr. A\u2019s son), have organized a special 90-year Alumni Band this year.\u00a0As of today, the day before registration deadline of August 15, there are over 70 registered alumni.\u00a0If you are reading this today and don\u2019t want to be left out, you might call or go to the band\u2019s website:\u00a0<\/span>vanwertbands.org<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and register.<\/span><\/p>\n

The alumni band will join the current VWHS Band on September 1 for pregame and\/or halftime of the Van Wert Cougars football game in Eggerss Stadium.\u00a0Bands always sound better in Eggerss Stadium because of its concrete design.\u00a0Musical selections were made from the Jay Hall era — \u201cMacArthur Park\u201d — and the Alessandrini era — \u201cSweet Child O\u2019 Mine\u201d.\u00a0I even believe Mr. A will be directing this one.<\/span><\/p>\n

An attempt to invite Mrs. Hall\u2019s widow to return for this celebration sadly went awry when Mrs. Hall passed away just last month.\u00a0Herb Jones passed away several years ago, but I was honored to have met him and talk with him in some length about his Van Wert tenure.\u00a0Leonard Wolf has been gone for some time.\u00a0His grandson, Doug Wolf, lives in Utah and is a retired music professor, but still performs with the Utah Symphony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alumni from the Jay Hall, Anthony Alessandrini, and Robert Sloan eras will make up this alumni band and you can come to the game on September 1 to hear the old tooters one more time!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It should be a blast (no pun intended).\u00a0Nearly 150 band members will be on the field making music.\u00a0People of all ages, making music together; this is why music is such an enjoyable lifetime activity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kudos to Mr. Sloan and Mr. Matt Alessandrini for putting this special 90-year celebration together.\u00a0Here\u2019s to a great time once more in Eggerss Stadium.\u00a0Let\u2019s hope there are many, many more!<\/span><\/p>\n

On another musical note, thank you to all who came to Fountain Park to enjoy the summer music concerts.\u00a0This Friday, the Van Wert Area Community Concert Band will be in concert in Fountain Park.\u00a0It starts at 7 p.m. and the band is filled with alumni and youngsters who still rehearse and toot their horns and plunk their drums.\u00a0I encourage you to come to the park one last time and enjoy their concert.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the Niswonger side of music, Wednesday, August 16, marks the early release for tickets for Michael W. Smith\u2019s Christmas concert.\u00a0It will be December 14 and features Michael W. Smith, \u201cThe Voice\u201d winner Jordan Smith, and all backed up by the Lima Symphony Orchestra.\u00a0I have a feeling this will be a very special Christmas concert.\u00a0The earlier release date was moved up by Smith\u2019s management and booking agency to align with a national release of the tour.\u00a0If you don\u2019t yet have a ticket, you can get one from the Niswonger box office beginning at noon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many other concerts are selling at a rapid pace and it appears we will once again have several sellouts before long.\u00a0And don\u2019t forget about the added matinee for The Texas Tenors on December 9.\u00a0This will be a 3 p.m. concert and those tickets are on sale now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Music is certainly alive and well in Van Wert, Ohio; in our schools, in the park, and inside at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FIN\u00c9.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As of today, many students are back in school.\u00a0Parents are probably celebrating and children are sad that another summer has come and gone.\u00a0But this also signals the start of school marching bands and a new football season.\u00a0 Van Wert High School is a unique school when it comes to band programs.\u00a0Since its inception in 1927, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 04:14:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}