The Newtown High School Marching Band & Guard competed with its show “The Climb” at the Open Class National Championships on Saturday, November 10, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Newtown won bronze in Group IV Open with a score of 97.238 and earned captions for Best Music and Best Percussion. Scores for first and third places were separated by a slim 0.35 point margin. In all, 48 bands representing eight states competed at MetLife Stadium. Newtown came in fifth overall and had the highest score of any of the Connecticut bands. In a separate scoring category, Newtown’s percussion scored a 396, giving them the second highest percussion score across the groups.

The end-of-season banquet for the band and guard was held on Monday evening, November 12, at the Portuguese Center in Danbury. The group recognized volunteers, thanked staff and board members, presented awards, gave speeches, and celebrated an excellent season. In addition to staff, students, and parents, Newtown Director of Music Michele Hiscavich and Newtown High School Principal Dr Kim Longobucco attended.

During Band Director Kurt Eckhardt’s speech, he complimented the group, saying, “Saturday at MetLife was your best performance by far… We performed with emotion, poise, focus, talent, energy, and power.”

Band and guard Visual Director Ricky Grasso spoke about the thought process behind creating “The Climb,” a program about, he said, “erasing doubt from all the doubts you have and turning it into a positive message that everybody and anybody can relate to.” He also talked about the marching band and guard program, saying, “It’s so much more than band… it’s all about accountability, trusting each other, getting along with each other, and having a goal-oriented mindset”

The high school senior members were honored during the banquet. The seniors are drum majors Tim White, Avan Sheridan, and Jacob Clements; Guard members Carolyn Wolf, Emma Farrington, and Nicole Keeping; and Band members Ryan Brown, Justin Halmose, Elayna Harrick, Thomas Hasselberger, Ethan Ledina, Tim McCarthy, Kevin Rau, Walker Russell, Aidan Schmid, Gabe Stewart, Ben Taylor, and Andrew Via. During senior speeches, Thomas Hasselberger spoke about his marching band experience, saying, “It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done. I don’t regret a single second of it.”

In preparation for the winter season, Winter Percussion and Winter Guard will meet separately on Monday, November 19, at 5:45 pm. Both groups will assemble in the NHS band room, then move to individual rooms. Auditions for Winter Percussion are open to students in grades seven to 12. Winter Guard will hold an orientation for interested students in grades five to 12. For more information about the upcoming events, e-mail info@nhsbandguard.com.

For more information about the Newtown Band and Guard and its events, visit newtownbandandguard.weebly.com.