The Orchestra of Northern New York celebrates the holidays with a one-of-a-kind concert in Potsdam and Watertown when a twenty-three-piece ensemble of trumpets, trombones, horns, tuba and percussion performs Holiday in Brass on Saturday, December 16 at 7:30 pm in Hosmer Hall and Sunday, December 17 in First Presbyterian Church, Watertown.
Dr. James Madeja, Professor Emeritus at the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, guest conducts. The program he designed begins with Sadler’s Christmas Fanfare for Brass and Percussion, includes several familiar pieces, such as “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” and contains works about Advent, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa, among others.
Dr. Madeja’s thirty-six-year tenure at the Crane School included teaching instrumental music education and studio trumpet, and conducting the Crane Concert Band and Crane Brass Ensemble. Prior to joining the faculty of The Crane School of Music in 1985, he developed two successful high school wind band programs in Illinois and directed the Judson College Wind Ensemble. His ensembles have performed for both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
From 1990 to 2002, Dr. Madeja was Associate Editor of The Journal of the International Trumpet Guild, and from 2002 to 2022, he was Associate Editor of the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Manual.
He is a charter member of the Orchestra of Northern New York and Northern Symphonic Winds and was a member of the Potsdam Brass Quintet from 1985 to 2020.
He is a recipient of the SUNY Potsdam President’s Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, the MENC Excellence in Teaching Award, and the 2019 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Tickets for the holiday concert can be purchased online at onny.org or by calling 315-212-3440. They are $27 adults, $24 seniors, $10 college students, and $5 teens (13-17). Admission for children, 12 and younger, is always free.
The Orchestra of Northern New York is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency supported by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.