This past weekend the band program at Northampton High School traveled to Hershey, Pa. to compete in the Music in the Parks Competition that is held at Palmyra High School and Hershey Park. Northampton took three groups to perform in the competition: the Percussion Ensemble, the Symphonic Band and the Marching Band to compete over the span of two days against schools from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. All three ensembles performed very well receiving ratings of Superiors (I) and Excellents (II) from the judges which are the top two highest ratings a music program can receive at an adjudicated performance.
Besides the ensemble ratings, each ensemble was grouped in either Class A (school enrollment under 750) or Class AA (school enrollment over 750), all three of our groups were in Class A and they each brought home 1st place in the High School Percussion Ensemble Category, High School Concert Band Category and Marching Band Category. The Symphonic Band and the Marching Band also took home the Overall Grand Champion Concert Band and Overall Grand Champion Marching Band which is given to the top group in each category regardless of classification. To cap off an amazing weekend of performances and being rewarded with the students' hard work, the band program was awarded the Espirit De Corps Award which recognizes the participating organization that displays an exemplary attitude of positive support and outstanding personal behavior throughout the festival weekend. Personal integrity, quality character values, a desire for excellence, and a spirit of cooperation serve as the cornerstone qualities of the Esprit de Corps Award.
All of the students worked hard to earn these distinctions listed above and we are proud of their accomplishments especially the senior class as they have been the backbone of this program for the last 5 years helping build the program to what it is today. If you would like to come out and listen to our wonderful ensembles, they will be presenting their Spring Concert on Thursday, May 16th at 6:30 PM at the Northampton High School Auditorium with admission being free to all in attendance.
