Farinacci-era alumni to host reunion concert

Former Heights High Band Director John Farinacci

The Cleveland Heights High School Instrumental Music Department’s Fall Concert will be held Saturday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m., in the school’s auditorium. The Symphonic Winds and Heights High Symphony will have as their special guests Alumni from The John F. Farinacci Era. The student groups will be conducted by Brett Baker and Dan Heim. The Alumni band and orchestra will be conducted by Lois Latnik ’58 and John Landis ’57, respectively. The concert will conclude with the combined organizations playing John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, complete with the flag and piccolos and brass, as it was done in the Farinacci years.

Tickets will be available at the door and sales will benefit the Instrumental Music Department. A reception in the Social Room, featuring the Heights Jazz Ensemble, will follow the concert.

The concert is part of a weekend-long reunion of the Farinacci-Era Heights Band and Orchestra Alumni (Nov. 11-13). There will be a dinner and reception and program in tribute to John Farinacci on Friday, November 11. An Award in Farinacci’s name will be presented to the Heights Instrumental Music Department as part of the program.

The Farinacci Era covers the years 1949–1964, during which time Farinacci was Director of Instrumental Music at Heights. Alumni are coming from 18 states and Canada. Even though 50 or more years have passed, his students recognize that he was about the business of developing the minds of his students.  Former Heights High physics teacher and Cleveland Heights-University Heights Schools Superintendent Dr. Albert Abramovitz says, “He lit their fires, honed their intelligence, and encouraged them to explore new avenues of knowledge.” 

For more information about the reunion, contact Dick Rose ’59 at rarose@rose-vintage-instruments.com or 614-861-3312.