Through the years, consistently high level performances have led to the production of two commercially released CDs, performances on the East coast, and peer recognition through the awarding of the be edited John Philip Sousa Foundation's coveted Sudler Silver Scroll Award in 1996.

The RCB performs an annual series of concerts presenting the very finest in wind band literature for capacity audiences. Ranging from light classics and famous marches, to cutting edge compositions by today's brilliant composers, the band's programming has drawn critical attention for its variety and depth. Originally launched as the Ridgewood Community Concert Band, an early review praising the band's fine performance proclaimed this is no "Community" band. The Board of Directors decided to incorporate as The Ridgewood Concert Band.

The members of the Ridgewood Concert Band come from all walks of life. The musicians and board members are drawn together by a common dedication to the study, performance, and support of great music.

The quality of RCB performances has attracted world class soloists from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, radio and television personalities and other nationally renowned performers and conductors. The Ridgewood Concert Band has also been active in the commission and performance of new works.

The Ridgewood Concert Band is actively engaged with area schools, offering opportunities for talented school musicians to perform with the band. In 2006, the band launched a scholarship program that reaches a large network of high schools in the region, inviting musicians who plan to seek a career in music to compete for scholarship funds. Winners showcase their talent as a featured soloist with the band. The competition and concert is one of the highlights of each season.

Each year the RCB performs a subscription series of concerts at their performance home in the Westside Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
The RCB has also obtained world wide recognition through international touring:
• 1998 - Central Europe: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria
• 2003 - Southern France: The Riviera Reeds Festival, La Croix Valmer; Le Pradet
• 2008 - China: Shanghai, Hangzhou , Xian , Beijing
• 2009 - Brazil: Sao Paolo, Santos, Novo Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Ouro Preto

Mission Statement

The Ridgewood Concert Band’s mission is to promote wind music and adult bands to the surrounding community and beyond by providing high quality performances that engage and inspire all our listeners. The Band is committed to the following:
• To make a substantial contribution to the music and artistic life of our community by providing audiences with the highest level of wind music performances representing a wide range of musical styles, periods, and composers
• To providing the members of The Ridgewood Concert Band an opportunity for individual and collective musical expression and artistic growth
• To producing recorded works and commissions designed to showcase talented, contemporary composers and their works
• To assisting in the musical education of young people and to that end providing students significant opportunities to hear, experience, and participate in live performances

Homepage: www.ridgewoodband.org

From 2000-2005 Dr. Wilhjelm was the Music Director of the legendary Goldman Band in New York. He served as the director of the New York University Wind Ensemble during the 2006-2007 school year presenting three premiere performances. His other conducting appearances include the Norwalk Symphony (Connecticut), the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, the Allentown Band, the New Jersey Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble, the Virginia Wind Symphony, and student honor bands in several states.

He also served as the interim director of bands at Montclair State University from 1994-1996. Since December 2000 he has conducted the annual Tuba Christmas with host Harvey Phillips in Rockefeller Center. This event, which features up to 500 tuba and euphonium players, is the second longest running holiday event in Rockefeller Center (second only to the annual tree lighting). Dr. Wilhjelm has also enjoyed a 31 year career as a public school music teacher.

For the past 24 years, he has been the band director at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale.
As a professional musician, Dr. Wilhjelm has performed the French horn with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops and, as a principal, with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Boston Opera Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony. He spent three summers performing in the Fellowship Orchestra at Tanglewood where he received the distinction of being named a Leonard Bernstein Fellow. Dr. Wilhjelm has performed with great conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Sir Colin Davis, Arthur Fiedler, William Steinberg, and Sejii Ozawa. He has also performed with many leading jazz and popular musicians including: Benny Carter, Art Farmer, Isaac Hayes, Rufus Reid, Sonny Rollins, Henry Mancini and Dionne Warwick.

Dr. Wilhjelm is proud to feature the music of contemporaries Patrick Burns, David Gillingham, John Mackey, David Sampson, Joan Tower, Joseph Turrin, Michael Valenti, Johan de Meij, and Eric Whitacre as well as the great composers long associated with the Goldman Band including Percy Grainger, Erik Leidzen, Robert Russell Bennett, John Philip Sousa, and Edwin Franko Goldman. He travels extensively promoting wind bands and band music.

Dr. Wilhjelm has taken the band on critically acclaimed tours of Central Europe (1998), the French Riviera (2003), China (2008), and Brazil (2009). With the RCB he has produced two compact discs: “Organic Band” with organist David Fedor, and “Celebrations” featuring the music of composer Michael Valenti. An additional CD featuring pianist Ron Levy and the music of Stravinsky, Milhaud, and Poulenc is currently in production.

Dr. Wilhjelm graduated from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Harry Shapiro of the Boston Symphony. He was the principal hornist with the Conservatory Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gunther Schuller and the Conservatory Wind Ensemble under the direction of Frank Battisti. He received a Master of Music degree from The College of New Jersey and a Doctor of Education degree from Teachers' College, Columbia University. Dr. Wilhjelm continues to perform professionally as a hornist with the Colonial Symphony Orchestra, the New Philharmonic of New Jersey, and with the brass quintet in residence at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ.