Berkeley Heights Highlander Band Wins 2011 Atlantic Coast Championship

Congratulations go to Governor Livingston High School’s Highlander Marching Band on winning the Group 1 Open Class Tournament of Bands (TOB) Atlantic Coast Championships. 

Despite the snow and local power outages, the band made it to the championship, which was held in Hershey, PA on Sunday, October 31. 

The TOB is one of the largest competitive band organizations in the United States, with over 430 member bands, divided into 13 Chapters across nine states.

Dressed in their traditional Scottish kilts, this military style marching band performed with determination and focus in temperatures hovering around 37°.  They outscored 29 of the top Group 1 high school bands with a 95.75, their highest score of the season.  In addition, with their featured music from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, the Highlanders won the High Music category.

Celebrating its 40th year hosting pageants, the bands recent victories were winning both the Group 1 Open Class TOB Chapter 10 Championship and the New Jersey State Championship.  Director Nick O’Sullivan commented, “We work really hard on developing a cohesive program both inter-personally and artistically. Emphasis on teamwork and our collective artistic goals drive the program's direction.  When we strive for these elements, things fall into place.” 

This is the Highlanders 12th title since 1980.

Come and see this award winning band perform locally at Governor Livingston High School at their home football game on Thanksgiving Day, November 24 (10:30 AM game time).  Additional band information can be found at www.highlanderband.org.

(This article contributed by Donna Klein)