2024 God and Country Concert

God &Country Concert Origins; A Remembrance

Ronald W. Holz, Professor Emeritus, Asbury University, Ph.D., O.F.

In October 1984 the Salvation Army Student Fellowship [SASF] Brass Band and Vocal Ensemble of Asbury College (Drs. Ronald and Beatrice Holz, directors) traveled to Columbus, OH for a weekend of musical ministry.  Central to that, at the invitation of The Salvation Army’s Greater Columbus Area Command, was a concert at the North Broadway United Methodist Church.

Brigadier Arthur B. Hill, Area Commander, had invited both Dr. Paul Droste, then director of The Ohio State University Marching Band and the emerging Brass Band of Columbus [BBC], as well as Professor Jack Evans, former director at OSU, to attend the program.   It was my privilege to meet both of these fine musicians very briefly that evening. Dr. Droste and I particularly ’hit it off’ and seeds were sown, if very tentatively, that evening for a potential joint program by the two brass bands.

The BBC gave its first concert several weeks later on October 28, 1984 at Ascension Lutheran on Morse Road.  Brigadier Hill, my father-in-law, had further discussions with Dr. Droste in that first year of the BBC about a potential joint effort.  Some time later when Bea and I were next visiting in Columbus, but on a more informal occasion, Paul Droste, Brigadier Hill, and myself met for lunch and coffee nearby the Droste’s house to further discuss a projected joint venture. We decided such a program was highly desirable and would have wide appeal. It would present a blend of patriotism and religious faith.  We soon added Bandmaster Peter Morrison, who led the SA’s Columbus Citadel Band, to our small committee, and plans began to unfold.

The first God & Country concert, combining the BBC and SASF, took place on October 18, 1986, in Weigel Hall at The Ohio State University. Both bands sat on the platform together, alternating their items and joining together in a final set of Massed Band items.  The SASF Vocal Ensemble and Timbrel Brigade also participated. The evening was a great success and we immediately hoped it would continue—which indeed it has, with remarkable consistency and success these many years. While the SASF featured with the BBC for the first several years. It was just not practical for our groups to come to every concert, and so it was decided that the annual concert would feature the BBC with an outstanding SA band, and, at times, world-renowned soloist. That pattern has been maintained to the present.  The Columbus Area Command administered details of the concert in cooperation with the BBC.

Perhaps no other joint venture of this nature can be as truly heralded as the God & Country Concert—an outstanding and on-going achievement!!