On Saturday, October 22,  the New Providence Marching Band competed in the States Championship at High Point Solutions stadium at Rutgers University, winning first place for the second year in a row.

The competition marked the culmination of 2 months of work on the 2016 show, Cityscape, under the direction of Mr. Niedziejko.  The group of about 160 members is made up of NPHS students from grades 9 to 12, some Union County Vocational Schools students ,and some fall athletes, all sharing a common interest in marching band.  During the two weeks of preseason in mid-August, the group concentrated on building a variety of marching skills and technique, increasing endurance and learning the general workings of the show.  The preparation culminated in “Band Camp”, a 3-day retreat on the first weekend of school in which the group focuses on further improving marching skills while focusing on producing the show.  Since then, the practice time has been limited to Monday – Wednesday rehearsals during the week and a rehearsal on Saturday prior to leaving for a competition.  Despite the cold and wet weather on Saturday, the band was well prepared both mentally and physically for the conditions by their instructors, and was able to produce a crowd-pleasing show.  The band’s performance earned them the first place in their division.

One week later, the band repeated their award winning performance at Ridge High School.  Competing against fifteen other bands, NPHS won several significant categories, including Best Music, Best Overall Effect, Best Percussion and Best Color Guard.  With the National Championships ahead, the NPHS marching band looks forward to improving and producing the best show possible in the time remaining in the season.