Kiski Band Photo 1

As an alumnus of the Kiski Marching band, I had quite a unique perspective as I joined the band in Indianapolis, Indiana this past weekend for the 2001 Bands of America Grand National Championships. During my high school marching band career I had the opportunity of performing twice in the Indianapolis RCA Dome for Nationals. This time I came not as a student and band member, but as a friend, supporter and spectator.

Kiski Band Photo 2

Every year near the beginning of November, the RCA Dome hosts the BOA Nationals Competition. This year's show took place from Thursday November 8th through Saturday November 10th. A total of 89 bands competed this year on Thursday and Friday in Preliminary competition. Bands are judged on such things as marching technique; visual performance, including color guard performance; overall musical quality; individual musical performance; and the general effect the show has on the judges. Through the judging process, those 89 were trimmed down to 34 for Semi-Finals Saturday morning. During Semi-Finals, the bands compete within their class division for the class championships. Class is determined by the number of students enrolled in the band's school between grades 10 and 12. Also during Semi-Finals, awards for Outstanding Music, Outstanding Visual, and Outstanding General Effect are presented to bands in each class. From the 34 Semi-Finalists, 12 bands are chosen to advance to Finals Competition Saturday night.

Kiski Band Photo 3

Kiski performed a solid Prelims show Friday morning, and after the performance the kids were allowed to change from their uniforms and return to the Dome to watch some other bands and eat lunch. In the afternoon, they loaded the buses once again and traveled to a local high school for a few hours practice. For years, Carmel High School in Indiana has been gracious enough to grant Kiski practice time on their field between performances. Director of Kiski Band, George Wozniak, permitted me to tag along to the practice and I was able to listen in on some of his encouraging words to the band. He told them they did a great job, but reminded them that there is always room for improvement. What they needed to do in their upcoming performances was sell the show to the judges and make them love it. The most important thing, in my opinion, that he told the kids before practice began was that they had to earn their place in finals, nothing was guaranteed. When practice was over that evening they went to dinner and returned to the hotel to watch videos of their performance so they could pinpoint specific things to improve for the next afternoon's Semi-final show.

Kiski Band Photo 4

It's just amazing how much time and dedication is put into this organization. The entire time they are in Indiana, the band is either on the field performing their hearts out, or on a practice field, or listening to judges' comment tapes or watching performance videos. The band members and the staff do all this willingly even enthusiastically. And this is a trend and discipline that develops in the band beginning early in the season. This commitment to excellence is what makes them champions. So, Saturday at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, Kiski took the field once again, and once again they dazzled me with an outstanding performance. This show would determine whether or not they would advance to finals Saturday night as well as their class AA placement. In the late afternoon, there was an award ceremony where the class champions and 12 finalist bands were announced. This was such an intense time because 34 excellent Semi-finalist bands now got reduced to the 12 most outstanding. I couldn't help holding my breath until finally Kiski was announced as 2nd in their class. Even though they did so well against bands in their own class, there was still no guarantee they would advance to finals and it was another agonizing few minutes until we were eventually listed as one of the 12 finalists. What a relief! Now everyone had only about an hour to run out for dinner before the Finals show began at 7:30 pm. And since the bands perform in random order, no one had any idea when their individual band would be performing until they actually arrived back at the Dome. Needless to say, punctuality was a must. That evening, the Dome was buzzing with activity. Band directors and band boosters flying around to make sure everything was in order for their kids; parents trying to squeeze in one last hug and "good luck;" eager friends and alumni hurrying to the stands to offer support all the while remembering and reliving the excitement and anxiety from the last time they stood in the airlock awaiting their final opportunity to prove their band worthy of that coveted title, Grand National Champion. Despite the tension and stiff competition, all 12 bands performed and were amazing. There is no doubt the judges had a tough time choosing only one band to place 1st.

Kiski Band Photo 5

Following the performances and before awards were announced, Bands of America put on a spectacular slide presentation and light show complete with fireworks, streamers and confetti. All 12 bands converge on the field while their color guards stand in the wings. The entire stadium darkens, music echoes around the Dome, spotlights in the shape of stars flash across the bands and illuminate the Dome. During all this, the color guards march in to stand with their respective bands each preceded by the American Flag. Then on either end of the stadium the large screens light up with still shots of the bands' performances over the course of the past 3 days. At the conclusion of the slide show, an enormous America Flag was unrolled and draped over the seats opposite the audience. Bursting flames and spinning sparklers surrounded it. The finale had fireworks shooting out from the top of the Dome with streamers and confetti popping out to the audience and on the bands. When the lights came back up, the inevitable was upon us. Announcing of the awards for Outstanding Music, Outstanding Visual, and Outstanding General Effect began. When these were presented, placements of the 12 were announced. With a score of 92.9, Kiski took 7th place overall. To give you an illustration of the intensity of the competition, the band who came in 6th place scored only 3 tenths of a point higher than Kiski, and the difference in scores between the top two bands was a mere 5 hundredths of a point. With a score of 96.4 the 2001 Bands of America Grand National Champion was Lawrence Central High School from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Kiski Band Photo 6

I give my congratulations and applause to Kiski Marching Band, not only for their excellent performances last weekend, but also for their attitude and response to the competition. I was at the hotel as the band arrived from the Dome late Saturday night. The kids and staff members were smiling. Everyone seemed satisfied. If there was a bad sport among the group, I didn't see it.

Kiski Band Photo 7

One final interesting note: Kiski Marching Band is to receive a proclamation letter from the Governor of PA to recognize them as being the only band representing our state at Nationals.