Posted April 9, 2021

The 74 student musicians of the 2021 All Catholic Concert Band, representing archdiocesan and private Catholic high schools in the five-county region, will perform Saturday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. in a virtual concert from Cardinal O’Hara High School in Springfield, Delaware County.

James Colonna will be the guest conductor of the concert, hosted by Cardinal O’Hara president Michael Connor, principal Eileen Vice (Class of ’89) and music director Hector Ramirez.

View the livestream of the concert here.

The students will perform selections from “Apples” composed by Andrew Boysen, “Cause for Celebration” composed by William Himes, “Portraits” composed by guest conductor James Colonna and “American We,” composed by Henry Fillmore.

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Participating students from archdiocesan high schools include Archbishop John Carroll in Radnor; Archbishop Ryan in Northeast Philadelphia; Archbishop Wood in Warminster; Bishop McDevitt in Wyncote; Bishop Shanahan in Downingtown; Cardinal O’Hara in Springfield; Conwell-Egan Catholic in Fairless Hills; Pope John Paul II in Royersford; Roman Catholic in Center City, Philadelphia; and St. Hubert in the Tacony section of Philadelphia.

Students from private Catholic high schools include Gwynedd Mercy Academy in Gwynedd Valley; Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem; Mount St. Joseph Academy in Flourtown; Nazareth Academy in Northeast Philadelphia; Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Villanova; St. Basil Academy in Jenkintown; St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in North Philadelphia; Villa Joseph Marie in Holland; and Villa Marie Academy High School in Malvern.

Guest conductor Colonna is the director of bands at Messiah College where he teaches graduate wind-conducting and conducts the wind ensemble. He has held positions at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Utah Valley University where he led the UVU Wind Symphony to a performance at The West/Northwest CBDNA conference in 2012.

His compositions have been performed all over the world including Italy, Belgium, Finland, Japan as well as conferences WASBE, CBDNA and the Midwest Clinic. As a conductor his ensembles have performed at CBDNA Northwest/West, NJMEA, PMEA/NAFME All East.

He earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in conducting from Michigan State University in 2007 and his Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas in 2000.

View the livestream performance of the All Catholic String Orchestra on March 6 here, and the livestream performance of the All Catholic Chorus here.