Welcome
to PA Bands, the only official site for Pennsylvania Bands, covering PA Bands at local competitions, BOA Regional
Championships, and BOA Grand National Championships. This is a totally free, user supported website for all PA Bands.
Marching
band in Pennsylvania is quickly becoming a competitive sport. The number of
marching units in PA has significantly increased in the past several years, and PA bands are once again starting to be seen
in finals at very competitive BOA Regionals. With the number of bands beginning
to compete at regional competitions, it will not be long before people begin to look at PA as a strong marching-art state.
It
is the personal goal of the PA Bands Moderators, to promote the marching-arts and music education throughout the state of
Pennsylvania. Although, PA Bands
is located out of south-western PA it is our hope that one day, bands from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,
Erie, Scranton, and Harrisburg
can compete against each other in a truly statewide event. Many local circuits
have “state championships,” however; there is not ONE true championship for the entire state of Pennsylvania. It would be a truly educational
and inspirational experience if bands from the west of the state could see bands from the east of the state at least once
a year. The local circuits are great because the travel takes a lot less time,
but one trip a year to compete against some of the best marching bands in the nation would be amazing. In several years, PA Bands would like to see one state championship held in a central location, where all
bands are invited.
NEW TO THE SITE!
We have four pages for your availability right now for local, state, and national marching circuts.
We will be adding new info to each page as new info becomes available.
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Competitive V. Non-Competitive
Although this site mainly
focuses on competitive forms of marching and features competitive units, we must not leave out the non-competitive marching
units. There are many schools that do not compete in PIMBA or BOA or any other
circuit because their band directors feel it is unnecessary. These schools feature
some of the best musicians and marchers in the state of Pennsylvania. These groups have
lots of fun putting together a show for football games, non-competitive festivals, and local parades. The moderators of Pa Bands highly respect all non-competitive marching units; however, it is our feeling
that competition is the key for the strive toward excellence.
An old proverb says “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” We are not saying non-competitive bands don’t perform greatly (many do, most do better than some
competitive units). We are rather saying that competition pushes performers to
do their best every time they put on their uniform. If a band has the right instructors
they can push their unit to do their best all the time, but the feeling you get after a competition when the stadium is cheering
for you, is a motivation preceded by none.
The reward after a competition
is not the trophies or the final score, but rather the feeling after performing your very best in front of a crowd eagerly
awaiting your show. The feeling is not the same as that after a football game
because at football games, half the people are there to see the game. The feeling
is indescribable. This feeling is what pushes most of the members of our marching
affiliation (which will remain nameless). Although we a have great staff that
writes awesome music for us to perform, and we have trophies in our band room, it is the feeling after a great performance
that makes our marching experience amazing.
We are not trying to put
down non-competitive marching units. Rather we would like to share our experiences
with everyone. We would love to see many great “half-time performers” come out on a Saturday evening just to have the experience of marching at a competition. We know you’ll love it because Pa Bands
are just that good.
-Pa Bands Moderators
Contact the Pabands Webmaster
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