Editor's Pick: Robert W. Krueger Center for the Performing Arts Dedication

The newly revamped Northport High School Auditorium will be rededicated as The Robert W. Krueger Center for the Performing Arts with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and gala concert on Saturday, Jan, 10 at 2 p.m.

The concert will showcase the talents of nearly 600 high school and community musicians as they celebrate the career and influence of a man the Northport-East Northport School District describes as a “Northport icon.”

Featured performances will include by the High School Jazz Band with the Northport Community Jazz Orchestra, the Northport High School Tour Choir with the Northport Chorale, the High School Dance Program, the Northport High School and Northport Symphony Orchestra, and the High School Symphonic Winds combined with the Northport Community Band founded by Mr. Krueger in 1959.

The concert is free and open to the public, followed by a reception.

“Mr. Krueger’s contributions to music education, lifelong learning, and pride in community continue to resonate in Northport-East Northport,” said current Director of Music Education for the Northport-East Northport School District Dr. Izzet Mergen, in a statement. “We are standing on the shoulders of educational giants in music education.”

In 1957, Krueger served as Northport’s first director of music education. He saw to it that the Northport High School Marching Band performed at such events at the NY Jets halftime shows an opening game of the World Series in 1981 and was the official band of New York State at the 1965 World’s Fair, according to the school district.

During his tenure, Krueger was the only person to be elected to the presidency of both the Nassau and Suffolk County Music Educators Associations, according to the school district.

In honor of his retirement from the Northport-East Northport Public Schools, Sunday, May 23, 1982, was proclaimed “Bob Krueger Day” in Northport by Mayor Peter Nolan and in the Town of Huntington by Supervisor Kenneth Butterfield.

He was also led a group of 17 students and three adults in 1959 in creating the Northport Community Band, a tradition that continued the village ever since.

After his retirement, he continued to serve in music education, including as executive director for the New York State Council of Administrators–Suffolk Chapter and consultant to Newsday for the Hofstra/Newsday Marching Band Festival. In late 2012, Krueger was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at the Paramount Theater in Huntington Village.

School officials say the Robert W. Krueger Center will continue to serve in Northport’s focus on performance in lifelong learning, and help foster future generations in the performing arts.

Image via Northport-East Northport School District

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