Kasschau Memorial Shell

Name: Kasschau Memorial Shell
Address: 125 N Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ, 07450, US
Telephone: +12016705560
Price range: Not Applicable
Rating: 5

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Kasschau Memorial Shell

Enjoy free musical performances under the stars!
(2)

09/08/2024

Thank you for an amazing concert season!! Help us keep the music playing, and make a donation today!
https://kasschaumemorialshell.ludus.com/donate.php

09/06/2024

📷 Photo cred to William Peay
The Nerds 9.5.24 The Nerds 🎶

09/06/2024

Kasschau Memorial Shell

09/05/2024

Be there or be square!! 🤓🎶🤓🎶
Bring your chairs, blankets and Mom says “bring a sweater!”! 🤓

09/04/2024

09/03/2024

Please join the Kasschau Memorial Shell Committee in thanking our incredible 2024 Summer Concert Series Sponsors!! These concerts would not happen without them!!
🎉🙌🏻🎉🙌🏻🎉🙌🏻🎉🙌🏻🎉🙌🏻🎉🙌🏻

08/30/2024

Next week - final 2 shows!!!
Tuesday 9/3 8pm-10pm
Radio Stranger amazing, young band!! Featuring our very own sound engineer, True Arahill, on lead vocals!
Thursday 9/5 7:30pm-10pm
Everyone’s favorite NJ Band, The Nerds - Pure Energy Since 1985, brought to the Kasschau Memorial Shell by our friends at Morgan Stanley to close out the season!
Let the kids stay up late a few more times, and bring your family to the Shell! 🎶😎🎶😎🎶😎🎶😎🎶😎

08/28/2024

THE STRICTLY 60S BAND is coming to the Kasschau Memorial Shell Thursday Night! Great music!
🎶 🎶🎶 see you at the Shell!!

08/28/2024

The Stilettos Tim Whiting Kasschau Memorial Shell

08/26/2024

Start your Labor Day Weekend early, and check out The Stilettos Band this Tuesday August 27th for a FREE concert at the Kasschau Memorial Shell located at 125 N Maple Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 (behind the Ridgewood Library). Bring a lawn chair, or a blanket, and support LIVE music! Band will play from 8:30 to 10:00 pm. Classic Rock & Roll with Gillian Foley on Vocals, Don Hayek and Joey Hayek on Guitars, Paul Turino on Keyboards, Jim White on Bass and Vocals, and yours truly, Tim Whiting on Drums and Vocals. Hope to see you Tuesday Night August 27th.

08/26/2024

Bring your friends, blankets, chairs and good summer vibes!! 😎😎😎
(NOTE: LAST SHOW The Nerds 9/5 starts at 7:30pm)
Village of RidgewoodKasschau Memorial ShellRidgewood, NJRidgewood Parks & RecreationZigi

08/26/2024

Only four shows left!!! We hope to see you at all of ‘em!!! 🎶🎶🎶

08/24/2024

Final Four concerts!! Let’s go!!
😎🎶😎🎶😎🎶😎🎶😎🎶😎
Kasschau Memorial Shell
Village of Ridgewood
Ridgewood, NJ
Ridgewood Parks & Recreation

08/23/2024

Playing till 10!! Village of Ridgewood

08/21/2024

Up next, this Thursday 8pm 🎶
MightySpectrumBand at the Shell!
Bring your blankets, chairs and your friends!! You do not want to miss this one!! 👊🏻💥 Village of Ridgewood video https://youtu.be/KStCGayZ_YA?si=KX0Spm4d37XY1veC

Address

125 N Maple Avenue
Ridgewood, NJ
07450

Telephone

+12016705560

Website

http://www.kasschaumemorialshell.com/

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Videos

The Nerds at the Kasschau Memorial Shell!! What a show! What a crowd! 🤓🎶

The Nerds

Kasschau Memorial Shell

Radio Stranger at the Shell!

Stilettos at the Shell!!

Stilettos always amazing!

The Stilettos Tim Whiting Kasschau Memorial Shell

Coming up at the Kasschau Memorial Shell!!

Mighty Spectrum Band Playing till 10!!

Mighty Spectrum Band

Playing till 10!! @followers Village of Ridgewood

Fat Mezz !!!

Fat Mezz

Amazing band!!

Fat Mezz!!!

Shortcuts

HISTORY

Matthew Schneider, The Ridgewood News Published 12:00 a.m. ET Sept. 16, 2016

The Kasschau Memorial Shell is a well-known landmark in Ridgewood, playing host to a number of concerts and performances throughout the summer, many of which are free.

Constructed in 1958 at veteran’s field, the shell is a memorial to Frank and Howard Kasschau, two notable Ridgewood residents involved with music in the village.

According to "The History of a Village," Frank Kasschau was the leader of the Orpheus Club, a men’s chorus. He was eventually succeeded by his son, Howard, who took the reins in April of 1943.

"The Orpheus Club, the oldest of Ridgewood’s musical organizations still in existence, had been founded by half a dozen businessmen and former members of male choruses in 1909," the book said. "Under the leadership and training of Mr. (Frank) Kasschau, the club’s growth and progress were strikingly dramatic."

Frank Kasschau died in 1944, just a year after giving leadership of the Orpheus Club over to his son. The Frank Kasschau Memorial Committee of the Ridgewood Choral was formed in 1946, to suggest a suitable memorial to honor the director.

While a memorial auditorium was initially planned, the group decided instead to raise money for a memorial shell. The fundraising was accomplished through a series of concerts, with the proceeds put aside for use in the shell’s construction.

"In 1947, Helen Jepson, soprano of the Metropolitan Opera Association, appeared, contributing her talent because of her friendship with Mr. Kasschau," the text said. "In succeeding years, many other well-known artists performed for the benefit of the memorial.

In 1949, the first Pop Concert was presented outdoors to 2,500 people and was received with such great enthusiasm (that) it has been repeated each June. Each year, a sizable sum of money was realized from the Pop Concerts and added to the fund. The shell was erected and turned over to the village as a gift from the Ridgewood Choral.

According to "The History of a Village," the concrete, steel and stucco structure was designed by Wallace Dunlop, a resident and architect.

With its proscenium arch 50 feet wide by 23 feet high and its deep, curved apron, it has one of the largest stages, and certainly is one of the finest facilities, in Northern New Jersey.

The shell was dedicated on June 17, 1958, with a concert by the Ridgewood Choral and Orpheus Club, according to the book.

While the shell was utilized for a number of concerts from the outset, the number and scope of the programs had steadily grown since then.

The text noted that there have been performances by a ballet company, Ridgewood’s Gilbert and Sullivan Company and bluegrass and banjo bands, as well as "a series of groups devoted to continuing the traditional music of various ethnic cultures," among others.

Programs and maintenance of the shell are administered by a committee appointed by the village’s mayor. Ridgewood’s Traffic & Signal Division, which are considered the village’s handymen, are responsible for much of the maintenance and repair work to village facilities. This crew readies the electrical and sound system at the Kasschau Shell.

Though Howard Kasschau has been dead since 1994 and Frank since 1944, the memory of their accomplishments lives on through each performance at the shell named in their honor.