Welcome to the Richland County Performing Arts Center on the campus of Richland County High School. This festival is brought to you by the RCHS Band Program, and the members of the Tri-M Honor Music Society, Chapter 8170.
At this time, we ask that you place your phone on silent mode to prevent any distractions during tonight's performance.
A special thank you to our corporate sponsor, The Music Shoppe, for their financial support to this festival.
CONCERT PROGRAM
Clap Trap (2006).........John R. Hearnes
African Sketches (1992)........James Curnow
Attack of the Garden Gnomes (2010)........Timothy Loest
Clouds (1994).........Anne McGinty
Imperium (1992)........Michael Sweeney
Creatures in the Attic (2010)..........Brian Balmages
March Bits & Pieces (2001).........Arranged by Michael Story
GUEST CONDUCTOR
Eric Combs was the band director at Richland County Middle School from 2008-2023. Prior to that he taught at Nuttall Middle School in Robinson, Illinois from 2005-2008. Eric is a class of 2000 graduate of Richland County High School. Mr Combs comes from a very musical family. His daughter Baylie plays flute in the RCMS band, his daughter Sophie plays clarinet in the RCHS band, his talented wife Jena is the band director and music instructor at LTC and OCC, and their 3 year old son James just likes to make a lot of random noise constantly. He will likely be a drummer. Mr. Combs received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education from Eastern Illinois University, and a second Master's in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Springfield. Eric was a 2019 recipient of the WTHI TV 10 Golden Apple Award, the 2020 Illinois State Teacher of the Year, and one of 36 National Awards For Teaching Excellence recipients in 2021. His book, Thoughts From a Beginning Band Director is available through Amazon. Eric also is the owner of CodeCrafters, LLC that sells his marching band drill writing software, QuickCharts. Currently, Mr. Combs works as a corporate Instructional Designer for the Hershey Company.
2026 Embarras River Festival Band
FLUTES
Amity Zuber .......... St. Joseph School Aubrey Weaver .......... Cumberland Middle School Audrey Edwards .......... Cumberland Middle School Baylie Combs .......... Richland County Middle School Emma Young .......... Red Hill Junior High School Kaya Sumner .......... Cumberland Middle School Kaylee Neer .......... Red Hill Junior High School Kylah Matthews .......... St. Joseph School Vanessa Hellman .......... Cumberland Middle School
OBOES
Hadleigh Gifford .......... Albion Grade School
CLARINETS
Adelyn Short .......... Richland County Middle School Ally Wright .......... Richland County Middle School Dariana Ramirez .......... Richland County Middle School Delana Sterchi .......... St. Joseph School Ella Staley .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School Haydn Dyring .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School Paige Wolke .......... Cumberland Middle School Shelby Nichols .......... Cumberland Middle School Alexis Brackett .......... Cumberland Middle School Aria Butler .......... Richland County Middle School Chlora Bergbower .......... Cumberland Middle School Ella Dick .......... Cumberland Middle School Emily Hernandez .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School Jasmin Patten .......... Richland County Middle School Kallie Doersam .......... Red Hill Junior High School Lana Harrison .......... Red Hill Junior High School Lily Curtis .......... St. Joseph School Livee Myers .......... St. Joseph School Nova Jackson .......... Cumberland Middle School Shayne Mills .......... Richland County Middle School Zoey Ledoux .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School
ALTO SAXOPHONES
Adam Wolke .......... Cumberland Middle School Addison Harris .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High
Ann Lee Gendren .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High
Hannah Perry .......... Albion Grade School
Koltyn Hinterscher .......... Richland County Middle School
Meira Cotterell .......... St. Joseph School
Ruby Jennings .......... St. Joseph School
Tucker Barnes .......... Richland County Middle School
Bentlei Freeman .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School
Max Freeman .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School
Owen Bangert .......... Richland County Middle School
Riley Houchin .......... Richland County Middle School
Roman Dees .......... Cumberland Middle School
Violet Rude .......... Albion Grade School
TENOR SAXOPHONES
Autumn Shelby .......... West Salem Grade School
Camden Blank .......... St. Joseph School
Drake Geuin .......... Cumberland Middle School
BARITONE SAXOPHONES
Jaxson Wallace .......... Albion Grade School
TRUMPETS/CORNETS
Brilyn Brinkley .......... St. Joseph School
Chase Burns .......... Cumberland Middle School
Grady Fain .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School
Kaidence Roark .......... Richland County Middle School
Konor Bailey .......... Albion Grade School
Nick Verdeyen .......... Cumberland Middle School
Seth Meadows .......... Richland County Middle School
Bennet Dining .......... Red Hill Junior High School
Caleb Matthews .......... St. Joseph School
Ella Tait .......... Richland County Middle School
Emma Dick .......... Cumberland Middle School
Fae Holsapple .......... Cumberland Middle School
Jonah McKerrow .......... Cumberland Middle School
Lila McCray .......... Richland County Middle School
Logan Green .......... Cumberland Middle School
Nate Greathouse .......... Albion Grade School
HORN IN F
Colby Carlen .......... Cumberland Middle School
Oliver Gawthorp .......... Albion Grade School
TENOR TROMBONES
Alexander Nicholas .......... Richland County Middle School
Brooklyn Edwards .......... Cumberland Middle School
Cole Heath .......... Richland County Middle School
Daniel Sherer .......... St. Joseph School
Emma Carwile .......... West Salem Grade School
Ezra Venatta .......... Cumberland Middle School
Gwen Chenault .......... Richland County Middle School
Jackson Shelby .......... West Salem Grade School Kate Ochs .......... St. Joseph School
Kiyah Harmon .......... Red Hill Junior High School
Kylar VanMatre .......... Richland County Middle School Lucas Troyer .......... Albion Grade School Mario Reynolds .......... Albion Grade School Olivia Justice .......... Cumberland Middle School Sylas Burns .......... St. Joseph School Thomas Taylor .......... Richland County Middle School
BARITONES/EUPHONIUM
Corbin Smith .......... Richland County Middle School David Brinkmann .......... Albion Grade School Gracie Fenton .......... West Salem Grade School Karson Fulk .......... Richland County Middle School Luke Slagley .......... St. Joseph School Zaiden Padgett .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School Silas Pratt .......... Cumberland Middle School
TUBA
Cooper Allender .......... Red Hill Junior High School Don Seiler .......... St. Joseph School
PERCUSSION
Audrey Schade .......... Albion Grade School Beau Stevens .......... St. Joseph School Brooks Cooley .......... St. Joseph School Dylan VanBlaricum .......... Richland County Middle School Eli Garrett .......... Albion Grade School Hayden Womack .......... St. Joseph School Jameson Weedon .......... Albion Grade School JT Brown .......... Red Hill Junior High School Justin Souden .......... Richland County Middle School Karleigh Hill .......... Red Hill Junior High School Katie Martin .......... Cumberland Middle School Karigan Kocher .......... St. Joseph School Kyler Houchin .......... Cumberland Middle School Matthew Dreher .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School Mickey Bell .......... West Salem Grade School Miley Simmons .......... Casey-Westfield Junior High School Rhyett Dees .......... Cumberland Middle School Ridge Burton .......... Cumberland Middle School Rilee VanMatre .......... Cumberland Middle School
SNAPSHOTS OF THE DAY
A big thank you to the Richland County High School Tri-M Honor Music Society, Chapter 8170 for their efforts in making this festival happen!
A big thank you to the RCHS Tri-M Music Honor Society for their help in running this festival. The Embarras River Festival Band could not operate without the help of these student-leaders. Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is an American high school and middle school music honor society. A program of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), it is designed to recognize students for their academic and musical achievements and to provide leadership and service opportunities to young musicians. The 2025-2026 Richland County High School Chapter 8170 Tri-M Music Honor Society members are: ROW 1: Emma Gilreath, Adele Waxler, Joshua Ochs, Ethan Mehl, and Carter Henton ROW 2: Mr. Weitkamp (sponsor), Jereme Higginbotham, Hadley Heath, River Logan, Alex Schneider, Alaina Parker, Sophie Combs, Molly Fehrenbacher, Lila Balding, Callista Ridgely, and Mr. Jones (sponsor)
For more information pertaining to Tri-M Music Honor Society, visit https://www.rchsbands.net/tri-m-chapter-8170.html.