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September 30, 2007

Competition offers Valley bands<BR>chance to strut their stuff

By Amanda Keister

MIFFLINBURG -- Nearly 40 years of tradition marched across the football field Saturday at Mifflinburg Area High School's annual Tournament of Bands.

Though this is only the eighth year the high school has held its own band tournament, marching bands at Mifflinburg have competed since the late 1960s, band director Matt Wagner said.

"It's just a tradition," he said. "I know our students enjoy competing. We've always competed. It's always been a part of what we do at Mifflinburg."

Bands from Milton, Shikellamy, Williamsport, Loyalsock and Lebanon competed at Saturday afternoon's event in Mifflinburg.

Milton, Shikellamy and Mifflinburg continued to Shikellamy's 37th annual Sounds of Champions Band Cavalcade Saturday evening.

Mr. Wagner said the competition experience serves as a way for band members and staff to improve their performance.

"The students ... get a chance to see other bands do the best that they can," he said. "The competition aspect gives judges an opportunity to critique what you're doing, so the staff can learn how they can instruct better and also the students learn how they can perform better."

Though bands at Mifflinburg have competed for decades, the Milton Marching Black Panthers didn't compete for more than 20 years before band director Brett Hosterman took the lead last season.

Mr. Hosterman, a former competitive band member himself, gave his students the option of whether to compete.

"I think they were ready to take that step. They wanted to get better. They wanted to get themselves out there performing more and that was a good way to do it," he said. "When we bring home a first-place trophy, it's a way of getting recognition in the school community because the band program wasn't very exposed to the school community and very appreciated in the school community."

Junior trumpeter Kevin Hower, 17, of Milton, was a member of the band before it began competing and said he enjoys the attention competition performances bring.

"I'm excited because we're finally bringing the band program back to Milton. It was sort of in a slump for a while and it's really coming back now and competition is just so much fun," he said. "I like being on the field and just that feeling you get when everyone is applauding for you and when they call out the winners."

Bands and color guards dressed in every color in the rainbow took to the field in Mifflinburg and Sunbury Saturday, performing music as diverse as the uniforms and costumes they wore.

Mifflinburg performed the music of Leonard Bernstein while Milton performed an arrangement of the well-known hymn, "It is Well with My Soul."

Shikellamy performed "New York State of Mind," a collection of music that took the audience through the traffic, street performers and city life that is Manhattan.

"I'm always proud of their achievements and what they do, considering how short a time we have to do this. They do a very good job at what they do," Shikellamy band director Scott Carey said after his band's performance at Mifflinburg.

"We always try to challenge our students each year musically, physically. The demand on them as far as what they have to do drill-wise, as well as the music that they have to play at the same time, forces them to become better musicians overall."

Throughout their performances, Tournament of Bands judges walked among them, yelling their observances into tape recorders.

"It's very intimidating having the judges right there," said senior saxophonist Chris Rote, 18, of Milton. "You can actually hear them talking into their recorders, but really, you have to keep concentrating on the music and everything you're doing and just kind of ignore what they're doing at the time."

Money raised at Mifflinburg's Tournament of Bands offsets the cost of the marching band program.

n E-mail comments to akeister@dailyitem.com.

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