Music has always given rhythm to Elaine Schlatter’s life. Schlatter, a Hackettstown resident, majored in music education at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa., where she learned to play all the musical instruments.

Even as her professional life veered from music teacher to the technical world–including information technology and programming–and then into retail, music has grounded her life. She played bass clarinet when she first joined the renowned Hanover Wind Symphony, now celebrating its grand 40th anniversary. Then, after three years, she switched to the bassoon. One of the founding members of HWS, she’s vice chair of the HWS board and their archivist as well.

Four decades in, roughly half the members of the all-volunteer HWS are music educators; the other half range from engineers and physical therapists, to IT business analysts, speech/language pathologists, even probation officers. All bring their musical talents, plus their other life experiences, to the music they love to play.

The group was founded in 1985 by Peter Boor, former band director at Whippany Park High School and Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison. Boor saw the need for an adult ensemble that could perform music of the highest caliber. At the premiere performance, there were 30 musicians. Now in its landmark 40th season, the Hanover Wind Symphony has a membership of 70.

Noting that more than half the band has been playing with HWS for 30 years or more, Schlatter says, “We’ve been together a long time, and we know how to blend together. There’s a great quality of musicianship in the Hanover Wind Symphony.”

Two years ago, for an HWS holiday concert, Schlatter researched and compiled a narrative to accompany a musical performance echoing World War I’s Christmas Truce of 1914, based on soldiers’ letters, news reports and a play called “All Is Calm.” Schlatter was captivated by the expression of holiday spirit embodied by the truce and carried out by the foot soldiers on both the German and the British side, without any support from their higher-ups. The truce was observed along the entire western front, in trenches from Belgium through France. Joining the Hanover Wind Symphony in this tribute to the Christmas Truce of 1914 were the Morris Music Men, an a cappella singing group.

The Hanover Wind Symphony serves the community by playing marches, toe-tappers, and standards while also presenting pieces written by current active composers some of whom are members of the ensemble. One way the group accomplishes this is by providing a platform to showcase world-class artists. Among these soloists are Joseph Alessi and Philip Smith of the New York Philharmonic; Patrick Sheridan, one of the world’s most famous tuba players; Steven Meade, a world-renowned euphonium soloist and recording artist; and Dr. Paul Cohen, the world’s premier classical alto saxophone player.

HWS has performed at various regional venues in the Northeast, including the Boston Festival of Bands at Faneuil Hall, Boston, MA; the New York Brass Conference, Lighthouse International, New York, NY; the Nicholas Music Center at Rutgers University; the Weis Performing Arts Center, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA; and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, New York, NY.

The 40-year-old Hanover Wind Symphony is a non-profit organization passionately fulfilling its mission to bring “music to people and people to music.” For further information about the Hanover Wind Symphony, including upcoming concert dates, visit www.hanoverwinds.org.