Blue Devil Band Heads to State Championships

The competition will once again be fierce at the New York State Field Band Conference’s annual championships at Syracuse University’s JMA Wireless Dome, but the Blue Devil band is ready to challenge for top honors on Sunday, October 30.

Huntington High School marching band musicians and color guard members are headed to Onondaga County, where they will be among 53 bands spread across six divisions vying for coveted state titles. The event culminates the fall competition season, which the Blue Devils kicked-off last summer with a weeklong camp at the high school.

Huntington will compete in the Large School 2 class division along with bands representing West Seneca, Hicksville, Kingston, Webster, Orchard Park and Corning-Painted Post high schools. The Blue Devils are scheduled to take the field for a performance of “Headspace,” the band’s 2022 show, at 11:07 a.m.

“I’m so proud of the 2022 Huntington Blue Devil marching band,” said Brian Stellato, coordinator of K-12 art and music education in Huntington UFSD. “Championships at the dome in Syracuse is the last step in what has been a truly wonderful season for all involved. I want to thank the students and staff for all their dedication and hard work. I big shout-out to our Band Parents Association of Huntington and all the amazing parent volunteers who went above and beyond this season, including running one of the finest home show competitions in recent years. And a special thank you to all our 2022 HBDMB seniors. Eyes with pride! I hope you all have your best performance this weekend!”

Nadeera Ali, Emma Hannigan and Isabella Lima are the Blue Devils’ drum majors. Rachel Morina is the field major.

Bands in the state championships are required to perform a musical and visual show of about 10 minutes in total length for a panel of ten judges, which rank the bands within each respective class. The highest scoring band in each class will be awarded the Governor’s Cup.

The state championships will feature more than 5,000 band members performing before 22 judges over 14 hours of competition before a crowd of 9,000. The bands in the championships will represent nearly every region of the state along with a band from from New Jersey.

In addition to the 53 competing bands, which will perform from early in the morning to late in the evening, the University at Buffalo Thunder of The East marching band and the Syracuse University marching band will stage exhibitions. Visit http://www.nysfbc.org for more information about this year’s championships.

The Blue Devil band’s co-directors are Andre Rizzuto and Patrick Neary. The band’s student leadership includes color guard captains David Chavez, Emely Cruz and Aislyn Franciscovich; brass captain Emma Glascock; woodwind captain Cecilia Kye; flute section leaders Donna Lazo and Kayla Murillo; clarinet section leaders Danielle Mendikyan and Erin Purcell; alto sax section leader Cecilia Kye; low windwood/brass section leader Yoanny Suarez; trumpet section leaders Emma Glascock and Liam Tucker; battery captain Jackson Danseglio and pit section leaders Sarah Corwin and Katherine Estrada.

Huntington garnered third place honors at last year’s state championships in Syracuse. First organized in 1934 by high school music teacher James Cloyd Doty, an Ohio native and Oberlin College graduate, the Blue Devil band is among New York’s oldest and most highly regarded.