This past Saturday, October 15th, The Bernards High School marching band concluded a strong season as they received first place at the Yamaha Cup Northeast Group IIA Championships.

Held at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, the Yamaha Cup is an annual competition that the Marching Band attends. Every year, the marching band competes against three other schools of similar size: Park Ridge, Weehawken, and Delaware Valley Regional High Schools. Among the many years Bernards has competed at the Yamaha Cup, the marching band has consistently placed among the lower half of these schools.

This season, however, with their show entitled “A Midnight in Transylvania,” the marching band received first place within their group as well as an award for Music and Overall Effects.

“As soon as we hit our last note, I felt not only that I played my best show of my entire high school career in band, but that the band left a strong impression on that turf,” said Senior marching band member, Amar Bindra, about the Metlife win.  

In addition to their win at the Yamaha Cup, the Bernards marching band has also made a strong impression at many other competitions and venues this season. On September 17th, the marching band received first place and top honors in the Visual and Overall Effect captions at the Hunterdon Central Regional Festival of Bands. Additionally, on October 1st, the band took second place at the Somerville High School Marching Band Festival, as well as top honors in the color guard, music, and percussion captions. This was followed by a first place win among all high school marching bands performing in the New York City Columbus Day Parade on October 10th. For this performance, the marching band was awarded $1,000 for their first place win.

“I’m very proud of the job our band did from the beginning of band camp throughout the season,” said marching band director Mark Noonan. “I hope this marching band season becomes a memory they will cherish long into the future.”