High School South’s Pirate Marching Band is the United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) New Jersey State champion in Group II Open competition. The band received an overall score of 90.1 and took first place for Best Visual and Best Effect. The NJ Family Care State Championship competition was held in Union on October 30.##M:[more]##
The band also placed first in its division at the Central Jersey regional championships held on October 23 at the College of New Jersey.
The 54-member marching unit is under the direction of Scott Collins, assisted by Jeff Barudin, Mark Fisher, and Michael Davis. Drum majors are juniors Michael Bond and Greg Steiner. The band’s website is www.geocities.com/piratemarchingband. The band’s theme, “Ghost Train,” is by composers Eric Whitacre and Mark Camphouse. “We feel that competitions help instill comraderie in the band,” says Collins. “There are no guarantees and all we do is give the best show we can. The group has performed at a very high level all season.”
This is the first year as band director for Collins, a music teacher at High School South. Last year he assisted longtime band director Tony Pappalardo.
The Pirates have two more competitions this season. The next is on Saturday, November 5, at Upper Moreland High School in Pennsylvania. The last competition is the USSBA All-States Championship at the Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, Saturday, November 12, 5:22 p.m. Tickets are $15. For ticket information e-mail scott.collins@ww-p.org or call 609-716-5050, ext. 7336.
High School North’s Northern Knights won the group 1 open class with a score of 81.9 at the USSBA competition held at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on October 22. The band director is Mark Bencivengo and the drum major is Doug Gitomer. This year’s music is “La Boutique Fantasque” by composer Ottorino Respighi, the theme of which is an enchanted toyshop.
The band competed at four competitions this year, including the Mid-Atlantic State Championship at the Naval Academy. It came in first place at each and won multiple awards for best music, best percussion, best color guard, best visual, best marching, and best overall.
