Schools

Ridge & The College of NJ Singers to Merge Voices at RHS

Ridge Choir director Barbara Retzko will team up with chorale director from The College of New Jersey on March 5.

The  Ridge High School Choral Ensemble will perform along with The Chorale at The College of New Jersey in a free performance scheduled at the high school's performing arts center at 7 p.m. on March 5.

The performance will join together two New Jersey’s leading choir directors, Barbara Retzko, choir director and choral educator at Ridge High School, and John Leonard, director of The Chorale at TCNJ, according to information from The College of New Jersey, based in Trenton.

The concert is free and open to the public. Among the pieces to be performed are Rene Clausen’s “Tonight Eternity Alone,” “Hard Times,” by Craig Hella Johnson, and Matthew Peterson’s “The Bedtime Prayer."

Find out what's happening in Basking Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Among her many accomplishments, Retzko has directed the award-winning Ridge Chorale, Concert Choir, A Cappella Choir and Madrigal Singers at Ridge High School. Leonard is Director of Choirs at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) where he conducts the College Choir, Women’s Ensemble and College Chorale. He also teaches choral conducting at TCNJ. 

“As a music educator and musician, I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with Barbara. Her commitment to excellence places her in the forefront of choral education in New Jersey,” Leonard said. “It’s a great opportunity for our students to work with a choir director of Barbara’s caliber. It’s also important for our students to see what TCNJ alumni [formerly Trenton State College] like Barbara have accomplished in her distinguished career.”

Find out what's happening in Basking Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Retzko received the Governor's Teacher Award for Teacher of the Year in 1998, an Excellence in the Arts Award from Somerset County in 2007 and was named NJMEA Master Music Teacher in 2008. She has served as Guest Conductor for the 1991 New Jersey All-State Chorus, the 2002 Independent School Choral Festival in Charlotte, North Carolina, the 1998 New Jersey Region II Mixed Chorus, the 2008 Sussex County Chorus and the 2009 Region II Women’s Choir. She received the Governor's Teacher Award for Teacher of the Year at Ridge High School in 1998 and the first Excellence in Arts Education Award from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission in 2005. She was named Master Music Teacher 2008 by the N.J. Music Educators Association.

She has traveled with the American Music Abroad RED tour to Europe during the summers of 1998, 1999 and 2006 and will travel again in 2011. In February 2011, she conducted the New Jersey All-State Women’s Choir at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Retzko received her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Trenton State College and her Master of Arts, Summa cum laude, in Choral Conducting from the same. She has served as an adjudicator for the Hunterdon & Sussex County Teen Arts program, the Roxbury High School Invitational and Performing Arts Consultants.

She is a member of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) and serves on the state board of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) representing Repertoire & Standards – Senior High School.

In addition to his work at TCNJ, Leonard is in his first season as Artistic Director of Cantus Novus, an auditioned chamber choir based in Bucks County, PA.  He also serves as the R & S Chair for Youth and Student Activities for the New Jersey State Chapter of ACDA and is an active member of Chorus America and The National Collegiate Choral Organization.

Leonard recently completed his Doctorate in Choral Conducting at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where he taught undergraduate conducting and directed multiple ensembles.

The Department of Music at The College of New Jersey offers the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Performance and the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. The music faculty is complemented by artist-teachers who have distinguished themselves as active members of the American Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Harrisburg Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here