RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP

Hi, my name is Barbara Retzko and I am the very proud, first-ever Choral Director of Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, NJ. My tenure ran from September 1980 until June 2020.

Mine was a glorious career filled with hours and hours of beautifully performed choral music sung by hundreds and hundreds of amazing young people. Our early choirs included the A Cappella Choir, Concert Choir, Ninth Grade Chorus (later to become Chorale), Vocal Jazz Ensemble (which went by way of the Buffalo... "We are the Music Makers...Our melodies will ROCK your soul..."), Voices of Ridge and Ridgemen (which started as community groups and were later morphed into the A Cappella Choir) and the Madrigal Singers (which faded away until it was revived by Section Leaders and Officers in my final decade).

Outside of Ridge, I had the privilege of conducting the New Jersey All-State Mixed and Women's Choirs, the Region II Mixed and Women's Choirs, three International concerts in Zurich, and a portion of the 2017 All-Eastern Treble Honors Choir as the chosen Conductor was stuck in a snowstorm! I also served for seven years as the Director of the Voorhees Choir at Rutgers University!

I am particularly proud that Ridge singers were consistently accepted into the All-National and All-Eastern Honors Choirs, NJ All-State Choirs and Central Jersey Region II Choirs. Competitively, the RHS A Cappella Choir Honors achieved Superior and Gold Ratings throughout the years. A number of my students have gone on to careers as Music Educators (at present, there are 32 Music Teachers in the workforce from the Ridge Choral program), they have landed successful careers in theater and one served as the soloist for the George W. Bush Inauguration representing the United States Army Chorus. Proud accomplishments indeed.

As a result of the impact of the pandemic in 2020, I was unable to plan and experience one final performance on the stage of the Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. Because of this, my Choralpalooza pals - Helen Britez, Karen Gorzynski, Viraj Lal, Susan Kirkland, Lauren Voight and present Ridge High School Choral Director Carol Beadle, began planning a Retztravaganza for June 2024. Inviting back 40 years of singers to take the stage one final time at a public performance on Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 7p. It will be EPIC!

The details of the reunion weekend can be found at www.retztravaganza.com. Responses have been plentiful and within them, a suggestion for creating a scholarship fund to be awarded yearly to a deserving senior in the Choral Department. I think the idea is brilliant.

WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR RECEIPT OF THE CHORAL ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP?

For many years, I have been told that our time together at Ridge was impactful...life-changing...where one would feel seen...where we created a family. I never took any of that for granted. My long-standing love, admiration and allegiance to Ridge High School ran deep and wide. Ridge permitted me to establish my career and reputation in the state of New Jersey as so many things; a leader and role model, a visionary, founder and creator, a writer and public speaker and so much more. Ridge was “there” for my every success and for my darkest hour when we lost our precious son Michael. And everyone reading this played their part in all of it.

This fund is designed to pay it forward to the next generation of musicians and leaders. I'm asking you to join me in making a donation, large or small, to carry on the legacy that was created all those decades ago.

With Gratitude and Love...

RETZ...a.k.a Barbara