“The Pennsylvania March”, composed by Bethlehem resident Ron DeGrandis, will be featured in a free, open to the public, 3 p.m. Marine Band of Allentown concert on Sept. 16 at West Park, 16 and Turner Sts., Allentown. Tom Heinick will conduct this inaugural performance of the first march ever composed for the state during the band’s last concert of the season.

The composer, conductor, musician and instructor said that the idea came from a close friend, the late John Jankowich, to whom the piece is dedicated. De Grandis earned music education degrees from Temple and West Chester Universities, and graduate credits from Vandercook College, Chicago, and Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. He was, for 30 years, an Easton Area Middle School music instructor, and, for 38 years, a violist with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra.

About The Marine Band of Allentown

The Marine Band of Allentown, a civilian band not affiliated with a military corps, was founded in 1903 andis now in its 115th year. For information, visit www.allentownmarinebandinc.com/history.html.