Schools

High School Percussion and Color Guard Ensembles Kick Off Winter Season

The first show of the season is Saturday, Feb. 25 at Montville High School

Fair Lawn High School’s award-winning Percussion and Color Guard ensembles open their indoor winter seasons Saturday, Feb. 25 at Montville High School.

The winter color guard is composed of the color guard portion of the fall marching band, and the percussion group is made up of the drumline and front ensemble portions of the fall marching band, which, for the second straight year, won Best Percussion in November's U.S. Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) Nationals Competition in Annapolis, Md.

The percussion ensemble's winter show is called "It's About Time".

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“Many of the percussion members are competing this winter and we are very excited about our show,’” said Jamie Szeinberg, the percussion director.

Under Szeinberg's direction, the percussion ensemble will also compete on March 3 at the highly-competitive Winter Guard International (WGI) show at Trumbull High School in Connecticut.

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WGI is the top regional, national and international competition circuit for indoor guard and percussion, and in the past has included groups from Japan, Holland and Canada.

“The Winter Guard International brings together many talented groups from across the region,” Szeinberg said in a statement. “Our percussion and color guard members are always excited to see what bands from other states come up with.”

Over the past decade, the Fair Lawn High School Marching Band, under the direction of Paul Kafer, has earned 10 consecutive national Top 13 finishes along with six straight invitations to the U.S. National Marching Band Championships. 

This past fall, the marching band took fifth in November's Group IV Open National Competition.

At Saturday's event in Montville, the Color Guard and Percussion ensembles will participate in separate events, with the Color Guard performance scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and Varsity Percussion set to go at 7:30 p.m. 


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