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Listening to the Revolution: 250 Years of American Music

Thursday, July 30 at 6:00 p.m. 

Journey through 250 years of American music with a free community concert on Morven’s iconic great lawn featuring the Blawenburg Band.

Grab a blanket, some lawn chairs and the whole family for a musical evening marking the 250th anniversary of the United States at the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and New Jersey’s first Governor’s Mansion. The Blawenburg Band will conclude their tour of performances called “Listening to the Revolution: 250 Years of American Music” with a free concert on Morven’s front lawn. We hope to see you there!

The event is free to attend. Please pre-register to let us know that you’re coming. The weather date is Friday, July 31.

About the Blawenburg Band

The Blawenburg Band was established in 1890 in the small central New Jersey town of Blawenburg. The band is known as one of the oldest community bands in the state and is active throughout the calendar year. The band plays two major performances, the anniversary concert (May) and their holiday concert (December); in between they play at indoor and outdoor venues.

When the band was formed, Blawenburg was a rural village with about two hundred people, with a church, a store, a post office, and a blacksmith shop. It was mainly a community of farming families who could trace their roots to the 1600s. At the turn of the 20th century, it was very common for bands to be formed in communities to provide musical entertainment for residents. Bands would play around the various counties, and as their popularity grew, so did the number of performances they did.

Over the past 39 years, the conductor Dr. Jerry E. Rife, has masterfully employed his musical vision, with persuasion, humor, and an occasional well-meaning threat to transform the group into a first-class musical organization that is well-known in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and has attracted many fine players. The band’s ~75 members come from all walks of life, all ages, and all professions. The members are all alike in one way; they enjoy making music together!

Our musical programming is very diverse. We hope to challenge our audiences with new or rarely-played works, but also let them leave with a tune they can hum on the way home. Our repertoire includes: American Favorites, Broadway and Movie medleys, marches, works by local composers, and popular classics. For our country's 250th anniversary, we will include a selection of authentic music that would have been heard during the revolution.