POTTSTOWN PA – More than 120 student musicians representing 11 local schools have practiced for weeks, and are ready to thrill their audience Saturday (Jan. 24, 2026) during the 70th anniversary of the annual Inter-County Band Festival.
The event, a performance milestone that includes a specially commissioned composition, will open at 5 p.m. at Pottstown High School, 750 N. Washington St. Tickets for the two-hour concert, hosted by the Pottstown Schools Music Association, cost only $5 for adults and $3 for students and are available now online.
The concert was founded during December 1956 by nine band directors who sought to give their players an “accelerated, high-level music experience,” its program explains. Their goals: to offer participants opportunities to learn individual responsibility, ensemble cooperation, and preparation in a limited rehearsal period.
Students and their directors are assembling for this year’s festival from across Montgomery, Berks, and Chester counties. Their ambitious program covers 13 concert band and jazz band pieces by diverse composers ranging from current pop culture favorites Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, to jazz master Duke Ellington, to wind instrument specialist Brian Balmages.
Featured are performers from Arcola Intermediate School, Boyertown Middle School East, Boyertown Middle School West, Owen J. Roberts Middle School, Perkiomen Valley Middle School East, Perkiomen Valley Middle School West, Phoenixville Middle School, Pottsgrove Middle School, Pottstown Middle School, Spring-Ford Middle School, and Upper Perkiomen Middle School.
Serving as the festival’s host director is Katie German, Pottstown Middle School band director and the district’s Music K-12 department chair.
Photo by Tadas Mikuckis on Unsplash, used under license
Introducing ‘Fountains of Longwood’
To commemorate the festival’s 70th anniversary, a new piece titled “Fountains of Longwood” has been created by award-winning composer Dr. Scott Watson. Watson serves as associate professor of music at Cairn University, and has his works performed nationally and internationally.
As the name suggests, the composition evokes “the dazzling fountain display at Longwood Gardens.” The 1,100-acre public gardens were built over decades in Kennett Square PA by entrepreneur Pierre S. du Pont, and includes several large water fountain displays.
The concert program describes the piece as “a vibrant, cinematic musical portrait.” Its “brilliant fanfares and flowing melodic lines (that) mirror the fountains’ soaring jets, shimmering lights, and ever-changing patterns.”
“Fountains of Longwood” will be performed by the Inter-County Concert Band, conducted by Owen J. Roberts Middle School Band Director Jason Hess. The work is dedicated to past and present festival students and directors, and is intended to “celebrate 70 years of artistry, collaboration, and inspiration.”
Our entertainment reporting covers the arts and culture, shows, exhibits, performances, festivals, and history-related activities within, or that affect residents of, Montgomery, Berks, and Chester PA counties. Find more entertainment articles here. Also, see and join the Pottstown Arts and Cultural Alliance group on Facebook.
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