20th Annual George Wythe Band Festival Press Page
Saturday, October 10, 1998
Trophies
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21st Annual George Wythe Band Festival
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The Crowd Cheers Another Award
A summary of the day's happenings at the Festival
with links to stories about individual bands.
Individual Band Pages
Class A
Bland County Marching Band
Christiansburg High School
Grundy High School
Class AA
John S. Battle High School
Chilhowie High School
Northwood High School
Tazewell High School
Class AAA
Blacksburg High School
Marion Senior High School
Radford High School
Class AAAA
Brookville High School
Pulaski High School
Richlands High School
Exhibition
George Wythe High School
Top..
..Band Pages..
Story..
..Awards 1..
..Awards 2..
..Permission..
..Comments..
..Links
20th Annual George Wythe Band Festival held October 10
Sign up now for the21st Annual George Wythe Band Festival |
Top.. ..Band Pages.. Story.. ..Awards 1.. ..Awards 2.. ..Permission.. ..Comments.. ..Links
Individual Band Pages
Class A
Bland County Marching Band
Christiansburg High School
Grundy High School
Class AA
John S. Battle High School
Chilhowie High School
Northwood High School
Tazewell High School
Class AAA
Blacksburg High School
Marion Senior High School
Radford High School
Class AAAA
Brookville High School
Pulaski High School
Richlands High School
Exhibition
George Wythe High School
20th Annual George Wythe Band Festival held October 10
Thirteen bands comprised of nearly 1,000 high school musicians descended on Wytheville, Virginia on a beautiful Saturday afternoon for the 20th Annual George Wythe Band Festival. Bands from Bristol to Lynchburg competed in four classes, according to size, and overall class in categories of music, marching, general effect, soloist, auxiliaries, and drum major. Many of the students made the trip after a busy morning of taking SAT exams. With marching competition season in full swing, the bands came to town as veteran performers. Their shows proved it. The field included four bands which have earned the Virginia Honor Band award for marching and concert performance.
The bands performed shows which have been in rehearsals since mid summer. Complex music has been memorized and intricate marching routines practiced to near perfection. All this was blended with flags, batons, and rifle corps. The end result was an afternoon of pageantry and bedazzlement those in attendance will not soon forget.
All four classes had tight competition. The hottest competition was in Class AA where all four band's performances were rated Superior. How would you like to pick a winner out of that group?!! In Class AAAA, the captions were separated by a small fraction of a point as two Superior performances from Brookville HS and Richlands HS vied for top honors. Ultimately less than 1/2 of a point (out of a possible 100!!) separated the two bands. The day was filled with quality performances to the delight of the crowd.
The Host Band, George Wythe's own Mighty Maroon Marching Band, performed in exhibition as the last band of the day. They received a rousing ovation from the overflow crowd. It means a lot to get that kind of recognition from a group of peers.
Even in a group of this caliber, only one can take home the first place trophy. It was an unenviable job for the judge's panel. When the competition was completed, only a few points separated the bands. It took an extra sharp pencil to distinguish the class champions. Detailed results are below. Class winners were; Class A : Christiansburg High School; Class AA : John Battle High School ; Class AAA : Blacksburg High School ; Class AAAA : Brookville High School.
Overall Awards went to:
Audience Choice Award : Richlands High School
Band of the Day , Group A & AA : John Battle High School
Band of the Day , Group AAA & AAAA : Brookville High School