About the Band

The North Royalton Community Band, located in North Royalton, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland), was founded by retired North Royalton High School band director Bill Park in 1998 with 13 members. It has grown to become a well-rounded concert organization within a very short time, and now has over 50 members. We celebrated our 100th concert in the winter of 2008 and are currently in our 14th year. In 2009 Bill Park retired from his position as music director, and was succeeded by our current music director Mark Wozniak.

NRCB was originally based in the North Royalton Middle School and was part of the North Royalton Schools adult education curriculum. In 2008, due to budget constraints, the school system could no longer keep their doors open for us after school hours. This sent us on a quest for a new facility for both rehearsals and performances. The North Royalton United Methodist Church generously opened their doors to us, allowing us use of their large classroom for rehearsals and their sanctuary for performances. The sanctuary has wonderful acoustics, good sight lines, and seats 400. Audiences are typically near capacity.

The band maintains an active performance schedule primarily within the academic school year with four or five public concerts each year. These concerts are well received and our audience is growing. Historically, the band has taken music out to those who were unable to attend our regular concerts with a series of six or more Elder Concerts. Now that the band has grown to over 50 members, we are unable to fit into many of these smaller venues. Currently much of this function has been filled by the band’s brass quintet.

The North Royalton Community Band is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization and is supported by member, audience, and community donors.

NRCB = ENTERTAINMENT

NRCB plays a wide variety of band music new and old, from marches to concert selections, overtures to folk music, Broadway to Bach, classics to contemporary. Our goal is entertainment in the rich tradition of community bands across the country.

NRCB= PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES

At our performances, we have featured: brass, percussion, and woodwind ensembles, flute and trombone sections, a Dixieland band, and a swing big band. Other concerts have featured performances by soloists accompanied by the band, including: piano, xylophone, marimba, drum set, flute, clarinet, trumpet, alto sax, f horn, bassoon, tuba, euphonium, and several accomplished vocalists.

In our 2000 season, we performed the North American premier of "Sons of the Sun," by contemporary Argentine composer Hugh Cambiasso. A 2011 concert premiered “Rascals,” a piece by Marc Oliver commissioned specifically for the band by Joan and Bill Park.

NRCB = COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Besides our own concert venues, we have performed to standing ovations in the community Christmas concerts at St. Albert the Great church in North Royalton, where we combined forces with church choirs from St Albert and others from the community.

Past performances include welcoming Santa at the North Royalton Fire Station and accompanying fire works at the North Royalton Homecoming. Other venues include the Tri-C West Auditorium, Cleveland State University, the gazebo on the city green, Memorial Park, and the amphitheater at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

NRCB has hosted several community-wide Halloween parties co-sponsored by the City of North Royalton and with generous support from the Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs of North Royalton, and Friends of the North Royalton Library plus private donations.

We have performed combined concerts with community bands from Cuyahoga Community College and Fairview Park and with the Cleveland BoyChoir.

From 2002 through 2008 NRCB held the annual “Northeast Ohio Community Reading Band.” For this event musicians from this whole area of the state were invited to join us for an evening of reading through some excellent music together. Music was selected from the BandMusic PDF Library and included marches, ragtime, overtures, a suite, and dances by such notable composers as Fred Jewell, John Philip Sousa, Karl King, Henry Fillmore and many more. Worthy music by less well known composers was also included.

COMMUNITY BAND MEMBERSHIP

Has it been a while since you played in that high school band? Not to worry. Some of the most successful members of the band had time away from their instruments, anywhere from 10 to 40 years. Members of the band will help newcomers get back into the swing of things, if requested. North Royalton Community Band has open enrollment for adults who have played in a high school or college level band. High school student musicians are welcome to join with the recommendation of their band director.

Prospective members are welcome to bring an instrument, in playing condition, and sit in with the band for a few weeks before making a decision.

Rehearsals are held each Thursday from 7 to 9 pm from September through May at the North Royalton United Methodist Church.

Email band president Jeff Hohenfeld at or music director Mark Wozniak at for more information.