Jefferson Arts Committee plans concert honoring America’s 250th anniversary
Milton. The Jefferson Township Community Concert Band and Jefferson Township Community Jazz Band will perform a free patriotic concert May 9 celebrating the nation’s semiquincentennial at Jefferson Township High School.
| 07 Apr 2026 | 08:30
The Jefferson Arts Committee will host “A Celebration of 250 Years of Our American Heritage” at 7 p.m. May 9 in the Jefferson Township High School auditorium, featuring the township’s community jazz and concert bands under the direction of Peter A. Tummillo Jr..
The free concert marks the nation’s 250th anniversary year, ahead of the official July 4 semiquincentennial observance commemorating the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. Organizers are encouraging attendees to wear red, white and blue.
Douglas Gabel, official town crier of Denville, will welcome guests in traditional 18th-century attire and open the evening with the historic call, “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez.”
The concert will begin with “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accompanied by the color guard from American Legion Post 423. The jazz band will then perform selections from the Great American Songbook with vocalists Richard Rossback and Verity Fox.
Eric Wilsusen is scheduled to read a proclamation recognizing the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The concert band’s program will also include “The Patriot,” “American Visions,” “The Blue and the Gray,” “Americans We,” “A Copland Tribute,” “The Greatest Generation,” highlights from West Side Story, “America the Beautiful” and “Stars and Stripes Forever,” with narration by Jonathan Tummillo, Peter Tummillo and Stephan Naphets.
