A 1934 photograph of the Hegins Township High School Band, Hegins Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The photo appeared in the Pine Grove Press Herald, 2 November 1934, along with a brief article (below) indicating the band would be performing in Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, on 9 November. Unfortunately, none of the individuals in the photo are identified, except it probably can be assumed the man in the white suit, front row, center, is Bartel Schade, the director/conductor.
HEGINS SCHOOL BAND COMING NOVEMBER 9th
Lovers of good band music will have a special treat in store for them on November 9th, when the Pine Grove School Band will present a concert featuring the Hegins Township High School Band, under direction of Bartel Schade. This state high school championship band and regional champion in the Eastern United States will be well worth while hearing. They have one hundred percent instrumentation, furnished by the school district. They are noted for their playing as is evident by the following list of achievement, also the record of their instructor.
Bartel Schade studied four years at Sandershauen Conservatory, of Germany, and was conductor of the Mozart Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, German, for two seasons. He was a member of the Philharmonic and the Bleut-Orchestra of Berlin, during which he played under the greatest conductors the world has ever known, Dr. Arthur Nickisch and Dr. Richard Strause. After coming to America he became a member of Arthur Pryor‘s famous Concert band for two seasons.
In 1932, the Hegins Township High School Band won first place in the county elimination contest of Class “C” schools. In the state contest at Pittsburgh whey were given fifth place. They lacked proper instrumentation to win a higher place. In 1933, they again were first in the county contest, and jumped to second in the State at Sunbury. In 1934, for the third time, they were the champions of the county, and at Johnstown were declared state champions.
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Photo and news article from Newspapers.com.
Information leading to research for this blog post was provided by Jeremiah Umholtz.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.