RANDALL STANDRIDGE

NIAGARA, Wis. — When the 19th annual Menominee River Conference Honors Band weekend kicks off on Friday, a major composer/arranger of wind band music will be welcomed to the area, and he will guide local student musicians through two days of rehearsals and a final concert performance.

The local branch of the Wisconsin School Music Association, the Menominee River Conference, is an association of 14 Wisconsin and Upper Michigan school districts, whose finest musicians will converge at Niagara High School on Friday and Saturday, for two days of rehearsal under the baton of composer/conductor Randall Standridge.

Standridge received his bachelor’s of music education from Arkansas State University. During this time, he studied composition with Dr. Tom O’Connor, before returning to Arkansas State University to earn his master’s in music composition, studying with Dr. Tom O’Connor and Dr. Tim Crist. In 2001, he began his tenure as director of bands at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Ark. He left this post in 2013 to pursue a career as a full-time composer and marching arts designer.

Standridge’s music is performed internationally. He has had numerous works selected for music distributor J.W. Pepper’s editor’s choice series. His compositions “Snake Charmer,” “Gently Blows the Summer Wind,” and “Angelic Celebrations” have been included in the “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” series. He has had numerous works performed at the prestigious Midwest Music Clinic in Chicago. The Arkansas State University Wind Ensemble premiered his work “Art(isms)” at the 2010 CBDNA conference in Las Cruces, N.M, and his work “Stonewall: 1969” was premiered at the National LGBA conference in 2019. Standridge is also a contributing composer for Alfred Music’s Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development series. His “Symphony no.1: A Ghost Story” was premiered in 2023.

In addition to his career as a composer, Standridge is the owner and editor of Randall Standridge Music, LLC and Grand Mesa Marching. He is in demand as an arranger/designer for the marching arts. He lives in Jonesboro, Ark.

An all-conference caliber band of some 90 musicians from Adams Township/Jeffers, Carney-Nadaeu, Gwinn, Iron Mountain, Kingsford, Menominee, Niagara, North Dickinson, Pembine, Phelps, West Iron County, and Westwood High Schools will present a final concert on at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. An admission donation of $5 per person will be received at the door, and the general public, as well as parents, family and friends are welcome and encouraged to attend what will surely be an outstanding program.

Underwriting support from Jim’s Music of Iron Mountain, Escanaba, Marquette and Green Bay plays a major role in bringing Standridge to this event. For additional information regarding the 2024 All-Conference Honors Band program, feel free to contact the music instructor at any of the participating schools.