The Pirate Marching Band returned to High School South from Giants Stadium on Saturday evening escorted by the Princeton Junction Fire Company. The band’s final score was 94.145 with first place in Best Overall Effect and a tie for “Best Music” with Montville High School.##M:[more]## The band ended the season as the top band in the Group II Open category in the All-States band competition.
“We are very excited about the championship,” says band director Scott Collins. “We’ve had an awesome season.” For Collins, an instrumental teacher at South, this was his first year as the marching band director.
“We achieved the first goal of our season — to be able to perform the entire show at the first competition,” Collins says. “It was a major effort but we started off on a great note at band camp and it seemed to work from the word go.”
The band competed in USSBA (United States Scholastic Band Association) this season at events at Hillsborough High School and North Brunswick High School. It also scored well at USSBA Central Jersey Regionals at the College of New Jersey; USSBA “Music In Motion” Competition at Upper Moreland High School, Pennsylvania; and at the USSBA Family Care State Championships, at Union High School.
Band members, their instruments, and their grade:
Piccolo players include Lynn Chen, 11; Bethany Hoffman, 11; Jennifer Yu, 11; Christina Park, 10; and Madeline Weiss, 9.
Clarinet players include Lauren Gould, 12; Shun-Ju Hsieh, 11; David Park, 10; Jennifer Principe, 10; Matthew Steiner, 10; Lauren Curatolo, 9; and Pooja Kulkarni, 9.
Alto sax players include Jeff Branchek, 12; Michael Bond, 11; David Ryoo, 11; DJ Sarkar, 10; Greg Steiner, 11; and Charles Nagel, 10.
Trumpet players include Dan Blum 12; Chris Kazi, 12; Alan Zhang, 12; James Park, 11; Mike Weizman, 11; Suren Jayasuriya, 10; Tamir Perelman, 10; and Derrick Liu, 9.
Trombone players include Karen Menezes 11; Nick Ferrante, 10; Dan Rodriguez, 10; and Josh Suslak, 10.
Baritone saxophone player is Josef Grossmann, 10. Baritone horn player is Brandon Finnie, 9. Tuba player is Mike Perl, 11.
Drum line members include Katie Bazergui, 11; Kevin Bertles, 11; Tom Gresavage, 10; Jason Sher, 10; Alex Copenhaver, 9; and Chris Presutto, 9.
Pit members include Hannah Bark, 11; Jessica Kim, 11; Amanda Sorensen, 10; Jennifer Kao, 9; Megan Kao, 9; and Sasha Mintz, 9.
Guard members include Brittany Gerstenhaber, 11; Sandy Ko, 11; Katrina Lee, 11; Sara Levy, 11; Amy McCaughey, 11; Amy Wang, 11; Caitlyn Wisser, 11; Krista Merrill, 10; Ginette Winant, 10; and Pritha Dasgupta, 9.
“One of the really important elements in our program is that of student leadership,” Collins says. “They make the difference because the motivation comes from them.” While the officers are chosen by band members, section leaders and drum majors are selected by an audition process by the staff.
Marching band staff members include Collins, director; Jeff Barudin, assistant director and head percussion instructor; Michael Davis, music arranger and percussion instructor; and Mark Fisher, visual designer and drill instructor.
“When we chose this show, Mark Fisher (the visual designer) told us that it was a November show — that we wouldn’t see peak results until the end of the season.”
“While the band has staff and the student leadership, it takes a small army of parents to handle meals, instruments, and gear,” says Collins. “We perform for ourselves with a focus on the whole picture to show all facets of the jewel.”
