Blue Devil Band Preps for State Championships

The Huntington High School Blue Devil marching band is wrapping up its fall competitive regular season and starting to prepare for the New York State Field Band Conference championships on Sunday, October 26 at the JMA Dome in Syracuse.

The state championship competition will bring together over 50 of the finest high school marching bands in the northeastern United States. The state showcase is the culmination of an eight week season featuring nearly 60 bands in 34 regional competitions throughout the state.

Band members, directors, staff members and boosters from each of the competing schools will have spent countless hours preparing for the event. Bands are divided into six different classifications based on school size and past competitive experience. Each band in the championship show will perform a musical and visual show lasting about ten minutes for a panel of ten judges. The judges will score and rank each band within its class.

Each band will receive a plaque and the highest scoring New York State band in each class will take home the coveted Governor’s Cup. The bands in the championship show will represent nearly every region of the state along with one band from New Jersey.

The championship show will get underway at 8 a.m. with marching bands in the Small School 3 Class. Bands competing in this class include Jordan Elbridge, Auburn, Nyack, Falconer-Frewsburg, Pioneer, LeRoy, Marcus Whitman, Midland Park, NJ and Union-Endicott.

At 10 a.m. bands in the Small School 2 Class will take the field. Competitors in this class will be Westmoreland, Norwich, Owego, Horseheads, Vestal, Mohonasen and Johnson City.

The University of Albany will present an exhibition performance at 11:30 a.m. and the awards for Small School 3 and Small School 2 bands will follow at 11:50 a.m.

Bands in the Large School 3 Class will be up next starting at 12:30 p.m. The bands scheduled to compete in that class include Rochester, Walt Whitman, Hilton, Indian River, Syracuse City, Sewanhaka and Rome Free Academy.

The next group of competing bands will be in the Large School 2 Class, beginning at 2:05 p.m. This class will include Lancaster, Huntington, Greece, Brentwood, Copiague, Division Avenue, Orchard Park, West Seneca, Kingston, Sachem and Corning-Painted Post.

A special exhibition performance by the University of Buffalo marching band will follow at about 4:30 p.m. The awards for the Large School 3 and Large School 2 bands will be presented immediately after the UB marching band.

Starting at about 5:40 p.m. will be the following competitors in Small School 1 Class;.Malverne, East Syracuse Minoa, New Hartford, Central Square, Mineola, Roslyn, East Irondequoit, Medina and Phoenix.

Finishing off the competition will be the bands in the National Class. Starting at 7:40 p.m. the competing bands will be from Baldwinsville, Webster, Victor, West Genesee, Liverpool, Hicksville, Arlington and Cicero-North Syracuse.

The Syracuse University marching band will present an exhibition performance at about 9:25 p.m. Following that will be the awards for the Small School 1 and National Class bands