RCSJ Cumberland bands to perform free spring concert in Vineland

Rowan College of South Jersey’s Cumberland Campus will open its Guaracini Center to the public for a free spring concert that blends two ensembles, two styles and more than four decades of campus music-making into one night.

The Rowan College of South Jersey-Cumberland Campus Bands are scheduled to perform Wednesday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Vineland. The annual concert is free and open to the public, giving Cumberland County residents a chance to hear both the wind symphony and jazz band in the same program without paying admission.

The format makes this year’s performance stand out from a standard spring recital. The wind symphony will move through concert-band works including Emblem of Freedom Concert March, Affirmations, With A Hundred Pipers, Highlights from The Patriot and Deep River Prelude. The jazz band portion is built around the history of jazz-rock fusion and will mix instrumental and vocal arrangements, including Blood, Sweat & Tears’ Spinning Wheel, Bobby Darin favorites Beyond the Sea and Mack the Knife, and Eddie Floyd’s Knock on Wood.

Joseph Akinskas is once again at the center of the program. Rowan College of South Jersey says the wind symphony and jazz band are in their 43rd performance season with Akinskas at the helm. Rowan University identifies him as the founding director of the Cumberland County College, now Rowan College South Jersey, jazz band and wind symphony, and says he has led the groups for four decades while also serving as an adjunct professor of music education at Rowan University.

The concert also underscores how the Cumberland Campus functions as a cultural venue for Vineland and the wider county, not just a classroom setting for students. The Guaracini Center has hosted previous spring concerts as well, including a 2024 performance themed Music of the World and a 2025 concert notice that also offered free public admission. That repeated schedule shows a steady campus tradition built around access, music education and community participation.

For families, prospective students and longtime supporters of the college’s arts program, the draw is straightforward: one evening, two ensembles and a program that pairs traditional concert literature with familiar popular songs. Questions about the concert can be directed to Joseph Akinskas through the college.