2021-22 Awards
Hartman Band Award – Josh Aung
John Phillip Sousa Award – Michael Mann
Louis Armstrong Award – Lucas Campbell
Freshman of the Year – Michael Streckfus
Program Mission
The mission of the Archbishop Curley Instrumental Music Program is to provide students with opportunities for self-expression, discipline, excellence, and life experiences through musical performance, fostering lifelong performers and supporters of quality music.
Our goal is to help our young men become versatile musicians, and we do this through a highly comprehensive curriculum. The Instrumental Music Program sets the highest standards and provides the students with a progressive four-year, five-step system of musical requirements and evaluation. Each step consists of sequential studies in applied instrumental technique, theory and music history. The members of the Curley Instrumental Music Program strive, through self-discipline, hard work, and determination, to perform at a professional level.
Instrumental Ensembles
The Archbishop Curley Symphonic Band is open to all students by audition only, grades 9-12, who play a wind, brass, or percussion instrument. This intermediate/advanced level ensemble performs at local, state, and regional festivals and assessments.
Click HERE to see the members of the 2021-22 Symphonic Band
The Archbishop Curley Jazz Ensemble is open to all students by audition only. This group performs intermediate to advanced level repertoire in all styles, including swing, latin, funk, and rock. This group performs frequently off campus at local and regional jazz festivals.
Click HERE to see the members of the 2021-22 Jazz Ensemble
The Archbishop Curley Drumline is a marching percussion ensemble comprised of all Freshman percussionists as well select upperclassmen. The Curley Drumline performs at on-campus sporting events and at one regional music festival each year.
The Archbishop Curley Percussion Ensemble premiered at the 2019 Christmas Concert and includes, drums, vibes and all manner of percussion instruments.
The Archbishop Curley Advanced Percussion Ensemble premiered at the 2022 Spring Concert.
Click HERE to see the members of the 2021-22 Percussion Ensembles.
The Archbishop Curley Jazz Lab is a training ensemble preparing students with basics in the jazz idiom. This ensemble meets once a week.
Click HERE to see the members of the 2021-22 Jazz Lab
Selections from the Instrumental Ensembles Spring 2022 and Christmas 2021 Concerts
Click HERE to watch and hear The Percussion Ensemble play “Begin Transmission”
Click HERE to watch and hear The Advanced Percussion Ensemble play “Scuttlebutt”
Click HERE to watch and hear The Symphonic Band play “John Williams in concert”
Click HERE to watch and hear The Jazz Ensemble play “Samba Ti Kaye”
Click HERE to watch and hear The Percussion Ensemble play “Christmas Presence”
Click HERE to watch and hear The Symphonic Band play Swearingen’s “The Many Sounds of Christmas”
Click HERE to watch and hear The Jazz Ensemble play Moraine’s “Christmas Island”
Instrumental Music Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can my son be in athletics and or clubs as well as participate in the band?
Yes, the many Curley athletes also participate in the Curley performing ensembles.
Q. Does the band take trips?
Yes, every year, the Curley Instrumental Music program takes a trip to perform in a
regional music festival. Past trips have included Boston, Chicago, New York, Orlando,
Nashville, Myrtle Beach, and more.
Q. Is there an audition for the instrumental program? If so, when do the
auditions occur?
Yes, there are instrumental music scholarships available. Auditions for these
scholarships take place in January. Requirements are listed in the Admissions section
Awards
The Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble and our newest ensemble, Drumline have earned top honors over the years. All three ensembles have earned awards in 2019 for their performances in the spring adjudications-‘The Band Trip” Our students have also earned positions in the Maryland All State Jazz Ensemble and have won significant scholarships to pursue music at Major Universities.
Student Recitals
The advanced music students in our Honors Pathway select a small ensemble composition or concerto in the fall that they then prepare for a performance the following spring.