The North Jersey Concert Band, led by Director Mike Roth, performs at July 2023 Summer Concert Series at the Fair Lawn Community Theater. Photo by John Pastore, courtesy of North Jersey Concert Band.

The North Jersey Concert Band is an itinerant ensemble based in Bergen County. They travel to a range of venues, presenting more than a dozen concerts each year in communities throughout northern New Jersey and offering performance opportunities for their approximately 60 members, who range from seasoned professionals to students and hobbyists.

NJCB received a $14,960 grant for a capital equipment purchase project through the Cultural Trust’s FY23 Institutional and Financial Stabilization Grants for Arts Organizations program.

Capital equipment purchases are typically large, non-routine expenses that can sometimes be difficult for an organization to afford without destabilizing its finances. Yet, these investments can be critical to maintaining an organization’s operations and enabling its future growth. By supporting these purchases, the Cultural Trust can help its grantees increase their capacity without risking their stability.

Prior to the FY23 grant project, the North Jersey Concert Band relied on its members to transport the group’s instruments in their own vehicles as they traveled across the region. This placed a burden on members and limited the size of instruments and equipment that the band could use. While the group identified owning a band trailer as an ideal solution to the problem, purchasing a trailer would have posed a significant challenge, as it cost more than an entire year’s revenue.

Through the Cultural Trust grant, the North Jersey Concert Band was able to purchase a band trailer without risking its financial stability. The new trailer has made it much easier to haul instruments and equipment to and from concert venues, taking pressure off of the band’s musicians and volunteers. It also has supported growth in the band’s programming, travelling with them to a planned 16 concerts at 12 venues in 2024.

Moreover, the ripple effects of the grant project go beyond logistics. Customized with the band’s name and website URL, the trailer serves as a “rolling billboard” to increase the group’s visibility. According to their grant report, the trailer has also “generated excitement” among its members and audience, “enabled thousands of dollars of fundraising,” and now serves as a home for the band’s new timpani, which previously would have been difficult or impossible for the band to transport. According to North Jersey Concert Band board member Robert Carter, this one-time investment has touched every facet of the organization, shifting its focus toward professionalization and “presenting to our audience a performing arts organization that is thriving.”

Learn more about North Jersey Concert Band: https://www.northjerseyconcertband.org/

From left, Izzy Kasdin, New Jersey Cultural Trust Executive Director; Michael Roth, North Jersey Concert Band Conductor and Artistic Director; Avery Wehrs, Cultural Trust Grants and Operations Coordinator; and Robert Carter, NJCB Grant Coordinator, pose with NJCB’s grant-funded band trailer. Photo by Cultural Trust staff.