Schools
Governor Livingston Marching Band Wins Atlantic Coast Championship
Despite obstacles from Hurricane Sandy, the band managed to get to this competition in Pennsylvania and place 1st out of 26 bands. Plus, band won High Music category.
By Donna Klein
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 in Hershey, PA on Sunday, Nov. 4.
Despite the hurricane damage and local power outages, the band made it to the championship with the assistance of township and county officials, school staff and administration as well as many parent volunteers.
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Special efforts included moving the entire inventory of the band to Columbia Middle School and Snyder Avenue field prior to the championship as Governor Livingston remained without power.
TOB is one of the largest competitive band organizations in the United States with over 430 member bands divided into 13 Chapters across 9 states.
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Dressed in their traditional Scottish kilts, this military style marching band performed a magnificent show despite the obstacles.
While Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath prevented the band from rehearsing for a full week, the students were able to pull the show together at Hershey Park’s stadium.
Placing 1st out of 26 bands with a score of 96.50, the band captured its 13th Atlantic Coast Championship win in the history of the school. In addition, the Highlanders won the High Music category with their featured repertoire “swanLAKE,” by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky as composed and arranged by Aaron Guidry.
Nicholas O’Sullivan said the following: “While I, like many, could not believe the amount of destruction and setbacks, I did believe along with many others that win or lose, it all would work out in the end. For the second year in a row, we weathered a terrible storm and did what we had to do: perform.”
The band also recently won the TOB New Jersey State Championship and the TOB North Jersey Chapter X Championship.
Come and see this award winning band perform locally at New Providence High School during half-time on Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 22 (11 a.m. game time). www.highlanderband.org
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