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Honors Band & Orchestra

Honors Band & Orchestra

The 2023 Meyer Music Honors Band

Director Bio

Rick Catherman, Retired Band Director 

Rick Catherman, is a graduate of Michigan State University (Bachelor of Music Education 1990), and The University of Iowa (Master of Music Education Degree 1996), and earned National Board Certification in 2008. Mr. Catherman retired in June 2020 after 30 years of teaching. He began his career as director of instrumental music for the Concord Community Schools (1990-1994), served two years as a graduate assistant at The University of Iowa (1994-1996), four years as director of bands at South Haven High School (1996-2000) and twenty years as Director of Bands at Chelsea High School. 

Mr. Catherman strived to provide students with a balanced curriculum including marching band, concert band, jazz band, and wind and percussion chamber ensembles, in his program. These school ensembles, under his direction, consistently earned superior ratings at MSBOA Festivals, and students earned individual and small group honors as participants in the MSBOA Solo and Ensemble Festivals. The Chelsea Bands earned recognition at the national level earning a Superior Gold rating and the Certificate of Excellence as a participant in the National Heritage Festivals in Nashville, TN (2011), Philadelphia, PA (2013), and performed at Lincoln Center in New York City (2015.) Rick also established the Chelsea HS Marching Band Exhibition, a non-competitive performance opportunity for area schools, and an opportunity for community members in the area to better understand and appreciate the marching band.

Mr. Catherman is Member Emeritus of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, member of the American School Band Directors Association, and the Network of Michigan Educators. Rick served as President of MSBOA District 12, is a past MSBOA State Vice President for Adjudication, is a former State Chair for the ASBDA-MI Chapter, and former member-at-large on the ASBDA National Executive Board (2008-2010). The Chelsea Bands also served as a host for MSBOA Band and Orchestra and Solo and Ensemble Festivals.

Mr. Catherman is an avid advocate/activist for music in our schools, and continues in retirement working to assure access to quality music education for all children in Michigan. He monitors education policy at the governmental level, and continues to build relationships with state policy stakeholders in Michigan including members of the Michigan legislature. He is a co-founder of Partnership for Music Education Policy Development: A Michigan Think-Tank, a governmental affairs advocacy group.  Mr. Catherman has served as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator for the MSBOA and ASBDA, and for various schools and groups throughout the United States. He earned the honor of MSBOA State Teacher of the Year for Band in 2012. 

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Program Notes

Triumphant Fanfare….Richard Saucedo

Richard Saucedo is an American composer, arranger, conductor and educator. He retired as  Director of Bands and Performing Arts Department Chairman at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana in 2013 after serving 31 years in the position. Mr. Saucedo is a freelance arranger and composer, having released over 300 marching band arrangements, concert band, and orchestral works as well as many choral compositions. The piece of his that we are performing for you this evening, Triumphant Fanfare offers the ensemble several rhythmic and metric challenges, and provides strong melodies and harmonic content that gives the piece momentum that keeps driving all the way to the end. 

In Autumn’s Moonlight….David Samuel

David Samuel is an aspiring African American composer and a native of Pensacola, Florida. He received both his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education, and Master’s Degree in Science of Education at Troy University. David has composed and arranged music for concert bands, jazz bands, and marching bands around the southeast. In addition to his composing and arranging, David enjoys performing live as a jazz pianist, and is currently the Director of Bands at Foley High School in Foley, Alabama.

His composition, In Autumn’s Moonlight is an opportunity for the ensemble and audience alike to experience lush tone colors in a ballad setting, while featuring both the woodwind and the brass choirs performing soaring musical themes. 

Chasing Sunlight….Cait Nishimura

Cait Nishimura is a Japanese Canadian composer known for writing nature-inspired, programmatic music. Cait has established herself as a prominent voice in the concert band community. The composer describes Chasing Sunlight, her composition that we’re performing this afternoon, as having been inspired by the experience of driving west into the setting sun, as if trying to keep up with the earth’s rotation to catch the last few rays of light before dusk. The steady eighth note motif throughout the piece represents this sense of urgency, while the soaring, lyrical themes depict the warmth and radiance of the sun low in the sky.

Just as the sun will always set, humans must accept the impermanence of all things in life, and make the most of every opportunity before it has passed. Chasing Sunlight also represents the ongoing pursuit of these opportunities.

United States Armed Forces Salute….arr. Douglas Wagner

The selfless commitment to duty of the men and women of our Armed Forces represents everything that is good, honorable and right in our country.  Today, on this Veteran’s Day November 11, 2023, in tribute to these stalwart defenders of freedom and liberty, actively serving here or abroad, and those who have ever in the past taken the oath of enlistment and put on the uniform, the medley we are about to perform stands in testament along with the hearts of a grateful nation.

We invite those that are able to please stand and be recognized when your service song is performed. The five songs of the US Armed Forces are presented in the Department of Defense’s standard order:

  • Army – “The Army Goes Rolling Along”
  • Marines – “The Marine’s Hymn”
  • Navy – “Anchors Aweigh”
  • Air Force – “The U.S. Air Force Song”
  • Coast Guard – “Semper Paratus (Always Ready)”

Meyer March….John Zdechlik

Meyer March was originally published in 1922 as a piano sheet titled 50th Anniversary March by Meyer Music House in Holland to commemorate its 1872 Founding. In 1972 Meyer Music was officially designated a “Michigan Centennial Business” by the state of Michigan. In 1992 the firm merged with Christian Music of Grand Rapids and continues to operate today as Meyer Music, recognized as one of the oldest retail music firms in the United States, and celebrating its 151st anniversary this year. Meyer’s current co-owners, Joel Hoekstra and Lindy Scripps-Hoekstra both enjoyed playing this piece when they were in high school band together.