The Albuquerque Concert Band (ACB) will be performing a FREE concert at the Eldorado High School Performing Arts Center, Sunday, April 7th from 3PM to 4PM! This concert will be a memorable one for all attendees! This performance features the 2024 Bruce Kroken Scholarship winner and, in addition, a performance of an outstanding piece dedicated to rescue pets, composed by Julie Ann Giroux. This concert will also be the final concert that our director, John Sanks will be conducting.

The Bruce Kroken Scholarship Concert in April is always a special event for the Albuquerque Concert Band. Every year the ACB awards a $1500.00 scholarship to a New Mexico high school senior who is involved with their schools’ music program. The winner of the scholarship will perform their award-winning audition piece at the concert.

This scholarship is awarded by the ACB to encourage students to continue their involvement with music at the college level. Notices are sent out to all high school band directors around the state and they pass the message along to their students, encouraging them to audition. The students applying for the scholarship must audition before a panel of judges made up of music professionals.

The Albuquerque Concert Band set up the scholarship program to honor Mr. Kroken, past director of the ACB who passed away suddenly in 2004. Bruce was also the Director of Bands at Manzano HS and Associate Director of Bands at Desert Ridge MS.

The ACB will be performing a very special piece of music called Our Castaways-for Those who rescue, Those who get rescued, and especially for Those whose rescue never comes, by composer Julie Ann Giroux. Our Castaways is a moving composition dedicated to rescue pets. The work is “dedicated to all those who work hard in the fight to end puppy mills, to rescue suffering pets and to provide care and medical attention to all those rescued.” Ms. Giroux is an animal lover and has adopted several pets. Her works include arrangements for Celine Dion, Liza Minnelli, Reba McEntire and Madonna. She studied composition under John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Concert-goers will see many of the rescued fur family members of the ACB musicians displayed on the screen behind the band during the performance of Our Castaways.

This will also be a special concert as our director of 25 years, John Sanks, will be stepping down from the ACB podium after our April concert.

John has been involved in the community band scene since 1970 and has been a member of the ACB for more than 30 years. He assumed the podium as conductor of the ACB in 1998 and was a member of the trombone section for 5 years before then. Mr. Sanks holds a BA in Music Education from Montana State University. He is also active as a performer, adjudicator and clinician throughout the region. We encourage all who have been in the ACB during his tenure, to come and wish him well as he transitions from being our director, back to being a member of the trombone section!