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The sound of marching bands echoed in the stadium at Blue Mountain High School during the Tournament of Bands Region 2 and 4 Championships on Oct. 18.
Hosting a competition for the first time since 2018, the competitive program at Blue Mountain has been largely dormant since the COVID-19 pandemic, l band director Chris Evans said in a statement.
Prior to the pandemic, the band at Blue Mountain was an eight-time Tournament of Bands Region II Champion, two-time Atlantic Coast Championship Silver Medalist, one-time Atlantic Coast Championship Bronze medalist and one-time Cavalcade of Bands Grand Champion.
The focus recently at Blue Mountain has been on maintaining a quality marching program while growing numbers.
Bands traveled from Hazleton, North Schuylkill, Mahanoy, Hazleton, Lansford, Wyoming County and Luzerne County to perform at the regional championship in Orwigsburg.
“We are honored to welcome so many talented musicians back to our home field,” Blue Mountain Band Association President Brad Miller said in a statement.
Offering special thanks to Tara Lutz for chairing the committee and to all the parents and band members who helped, Miller said the band association did a phenomenal job hosting the tournament, which was a great success.
“Our band members and the members of all the bands we encounter are always supportive of one another,” Miller said. “It is great to go to a competition and hear the competitors cheering for their rivals. The bands show a true sense of belonging, and the members carry that into their schools and into their communities.”
The band association hopes the event offered a day filled with unforgettable performances.
“The weather was outstanding, a great fall night with excellent entertainment from all the participating groups,” Evans said.
Field shows featured music of the Beatles, George Gershwin, Dua Lipa, Metallica, Aerosmith and David Bowie as well as songs from “Shrek” and Tom Cruise movies “Mission Impossible,” “Days of Thunder” and “Top Gun.” One show delved into the mythology of Medusa, while another showed an alternative North Pole where Santa the Barbarian battled his son Nicholas.
“Hopefully all participants had a positive and memorable experience, especially the seniors whose marching band careers are coming to an end shortly,” Evans said. “Everyone seemed to be really happy with the organization, facilities and the hospitality provided to the participants and staffs.”
SCORES
Region 2 Group 1 – Open
Lake-Lehman High School Marching Band from Luzerne County won first place with a score of 83.90 for their show “Pursuit of Peace.” The Beatles song “Let It Be” is the show’s unifying thread.
Region 2 Group 1 – A
The North Schuylkill High School Competition Band finished first with a score of 77.17 for “Neon Nights,” which is set in the neon-world of an 1980s dance party. Selections included Journey’s “Any Way You Want It,” “Separate Ways,” “Open Arms” and “Don’t Stop Believing.” This win marks the ninth Region 2 Championship in North Schuylkill’s program history and its fourth consecutive championship victory.
The Wyoming Area Marching Warriors from Luzerne and Wyoming Counties won second place for the “Santa the Barbarian” field show.
Region 2 Group 2 – A
Hazleton Area High School Marching Band placed first with a score of 85.5 for their field show “A Day of Play” which featured Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” followed by Haydn’s “Surprise Sunrise” while playing Hide and Seek, then Grainger’s “Country Gardens” during a game of Duck Duck Goose.
Mahanoy Area Marching Band finished second with“Slumber Party,” featuring Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and Aerosmith’s “Dream On.”
Panther Valley Marching Band was third with “Better Out Than In,” featuring music from “Shrek.”
Region 2 Group 3-A
Blue Mountain finished first with a score of 82.53 for “The Best of Tom Cruise.” Selections include “The Mission Impossible Theme,” “Gimme Some Lovin’” from “Days of Thunder” and “Danger Zone” from “Top Gun.”
Region 4 Group 1-A
Southern Tioga won first place with a score of 85.65 for their pirate-themed field show that featured a ship, pirates and a treasure map. Musical arrangement was “A Pirate’s Adventure.”
Region 4 Group 3 – A
Mifflin County High School Marching Band won 1st place with a score of 87.70 for their field show “Medusa” during which Perseus hunts the evil gorgon.
AWARDS
Tournament of Bands Region 2 presented scholarships of $500 to two students.
Hazleton High School senior Ciarra Bracero plans to study fine arts and minor in business at Bloomsburg University.
Blue Mountain senior Aidan Miller plans to major in music education and would like to be part of a volunteer fire company while at school and obtain EMT certification.
Outstanding performance awards were presented to Dahlia Hughes and Tyler Handwerk from Blue Mountain; Brianna Bower, Dan Armbruster and Trista Vogan from Lake- Lehman; Kameryn McClee from Wyoming Area; Keira Blousky from North Schuylkill; Callum Former and JV Santiago from Hazleton; Ben Bux from Mahanoy; and Rylan Gensey-Strohl from Panther Valley.
The next competition is the Tournament of Bands Atlantic Coast Championships in Hershey on Nov. 2.
For information about the Tournament of Bands, visit www.njatob.org and www.tob-info.net.
Marching bands hit high note in Orwigsburg
