The NVOT Marching Band capped off a very successful season by traveling to Metlife Stadium to participate in the Yamaha Cup Competition and to Rutgers University to participate in the US Bands State Championship. The Yamaha Cup Competition was a large event, and over 70 different instrumental ensembles competed. The competition was held on Saturday, October 14 and lasted from 8 a.m. all the way until midnight.

At Metlife, the students marched in formation and performed a piece titled “4 Elements” that represents water, wind, earth, and fire. The piece is meant to sound like four elements so the tune is unrecognizable to anything that’s been played before. During their performance, the judges gave them comments that they could use in order to improve their next performance.Marching band director, Ms. Amy Wilcox stated that her expectations for the marching band were “that the students have the best performance of the season so far and that they have fun doing it.”

The students entered the competition through the same tunnel that the football players run through before a game. Wilcox explained, “My favorite part of the Yamaha Cup Competition at MetLife is watching the students’ faces light up as they enter the stadium through the tunnel for the first time. You can’t really describe it to them, so it’s just fun to watch it happen!”

The marching band seems to have met her expectations because on the bus ride home Wilcox said that they had “their best performance yet.” The marching band also proved to have enjoyed themselves at the competition as sophomore Sharon Lee shared, “It was a good time. We had a lot of fun!”

The marching band continued to improve their performance at their final competition the US Bands State Championship at Rutgers University on October 28. There they earned the highest score they have ever received. Freshman Sam Francis described marching band season as “an adventure.”