PROGRAM NOTE
This is an arrangement of the songster piece published in 1998 in Sing to the Lord (Volume 5 Part 1) entitled In Me.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Olaf Ritman is a Salvationist from the Netherlands. He grew up in a Salvation Army family with Salvationist parents and grandparents. His father and grandfather were active bandmasters in several corps. He started playing the cornet at age 10 and began learning the piano soon after. From a young age, Olaf developed an interest in composing and conducting. At the age of 22, he took up the baton to become bandmaster at his home corps. Presently, Olaf is the bandmaster of the Amsterdam Staff Band. He first joined the band on solo cornet in 2000 and became the deputy bandmaster in 2006. In 2009, he accepted his position as staff bandmaster and joined a distinguished array of musical directors that helped build the Netherland’s fine brass band tradition including musicians such as Bernard Verkaaik, Fokke Palstra, Cor Nieuwland, Dick Krommenhoek, and Howard Evans. Olaf is an Information Technology teacher at a vocational school in Ede, Netherlands. He soldiers at the Valleistreek corps along with his wife, Marleen, and their two children, Julian and Meike.