Gordon Turk, Director of the Summer Stars series, welcomes the audience. He is with the New Jersey Wind Symphony.    7/1/21. Paul Goldfinger photograph.  Click to enlarge.

Portrait of some members of the brass section, . Paul Goldfinger photo. Click to enlarge.

Flute section performs the piccolo solo near the end of Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.”  Gordon Turk is in the background on the Hope-Jones organ.  Paul Goldfinger photos. Click to enlarge.

Ocean Grove Great Auditorium by Paul Goldfinger.  Blogfinger.net ©  This image appears on the web site of the Garden State Theater Organ Society.

By Paul Goldfinger, MD.  Editor Blogfinger.net

July 1, 2021.   The Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove—built in 1894.

A storm threatened the  performance of the New Jersey Wind Symphony last night at Ocean Grove’s Great Auditorium. The possibility of tornados was announced 1 hour before the concert start time at 7:30 pm.

But the storm quieted down by showtime, so no thunder and lightening occurred to interfere with the musical delights on stage. And no nasty windstorm occurred to compete with this NJ Wind Symphony.

Gordon Turk, the long term celebrity soloist in the Grove, introduced the concert and then he reappeared at the end to play some Sousa on the Hope-Jones organ which was installed in the Great Auditorium in 1908. The sound of that magnificent instrument, with front and rear registers, filled the Auditorium with glorious Sousa march music.

This was the first live concert in over a year for the Wind Symphony, and they seemed  happy to be performing again, especially in this marvelous venue with incredible acoustics—Ocean Grove’s  Great Auditorium.

A new sound system had recently been installed, but this group  did not need or use any amplification.

Aside from the program which featured Sousa marches and other patriotic pieces, the musicality of the group was superb, and it was fun to watch the various sections stand out.

Below is Robert Tiedemann, trombonist, soloing during Arthur Pryor’s “thoughts of Love.”  Here is a portion of his solo:

At the end, conductor Christian Wilhjelm  encouraged the audience to join in singing” The Star Spangled Banner.”   By the time the two hour show was over, the rain had stopped.

Hardly anyone left during the concert, and I think the audience was as happy as the musicians to be out and back to normal.

“The Stars and Stripes Forever” ended the concert, and we were treated to the famed piccolo solo performed by 6 soloists.

This concert was a fine opening for the 2021 Summer Stars Classical series.  Congratulations  to Gordon Turk and the OG Camp Meeting Association for bringing wonderful  music to Ocean Grove.

US MARINE BAND.  (The President’s Own:)