The River Valley Band of Hastings, under the direction of Thomas Maeck, retired Eagan High School Director of Bands, is kicking off its 13th concert season with a special Veterans Day Celebration concert on Sunday November 12th at 1pm at Hastings Middle School auditorium. To make it even more special for the audience, the band will be performing a joint concert with the 204th Army Band from Fort Snelling MN.

 According to Allen Saunders, RVB Board President and band member, the two bands are coming together to celebrate Veterans Day with a show of patriotism, gratitude for their service and our American heritage. The 204th Army Band – Minnesota is a detachment of the 204th Army Band stationed in Tacoma, WA. It is comprised of select musicians from the upper Midwest and has the reputation of being one of the top organizations in the Army band program. Its members come from all walks of life with diverse professional careers in addition to their military service. They all share a love of music and pride in serving their country as soldiers in the United States Army Reserve. The 204th Band will be performing as a 30+ piece concert band as well as offering vocalists and a 5-piece rock band configuration.   Both the River Valley band and the Army band will perform a closing piece on stage together.

 “After the success of the prior Veterans Day concerts, which were produced with the assistance and support of our local VFW and American Legion veterans organizations, our Board of Directors felt another such concert would be an appropriate way to allow the community to honor our veterans”, Saunders said. “We encourage the entire community to turn out to support our veterans. It will be a wonderful Sunday afternoon concert in the comfort of the Hastings Middle School auditorium.”

Since its inception, the River Valley Band has grown annually and is now over 60 members of all ages. Membership is open to all musicians from the surrounding area. The band rehearses each Tuesday at 6:45pm in the Hastings Middle School band room. The RVB is particularly pleased that 20 members of the instrument repair curriculum from the Minnesota State College Southeast in Red Wing have joined the band this season. These are highly skilled musicians from all over the country that take their love of concert band music and extend it to their love of and care for the instruments themselves.

 The concert will be held at 1pm on Sunday November 12th in the Hastings Middle School Auditorium. Everyone is welcome and freewill donations to support the River Valley Band will be accepted. Following the Veterans Day concert, the next River Valley Band concert will be the Band’s annual Christmas concert to be held at 1pm on Sunday December 10th at the Hastings Middle School Auditorium. The entire community is invited. This concert will also feature the Hastings Middle School “Spiral Singers” under the direction of vocal music teacher Cheryl Borgen who will bring their special holiday music to the program.