BOA New Jersey Preview
It's been a long, long time.
BOA returns to the Northeast with the New Jersey regional hosted at Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ. This is the same site at which BOA last hosted the regional a whopping 18 years ago - meaning that none of the students marching this weekend were even alive the last time there was a Bands of America contest in the state.
All eyes will be on the reigning Grand National Class AA Champion Norwin (PA) this weekend, as well as several first-time BOA attendees. Unsurprisingly after almost two decades, none of the previous New Jersey regional attendees are back for a second round - let’s take a look into who will be with the event schedule (all times ET).
10:00 - Bergenfield H.S. NJ
10:15 - Robbinsville H.S., NJ
10:30 - Randolph H.S., NJ
10:45 - Bridgewater-Raritan H.S., NJ
11:00 - Cherokee H.S., NJ
11:15 - Westfield H.S., NJ
BREAK
12:15 - Brick Memorial H.S., NJ
12:30 - Elizabeth H.S., NJ
12:45 - Freedom H.S., VA
1:00 - Downingtown East H.S., PA
1:15 - Immaculata H.S., NJ
1:30 - Wakefield H.S., MA
1:45 - Dartmouth H.S., MA
BREAK
2:30 - James Madison H.S., VA
2:45 - Norwin H.S., PA
3:00 - Spring-Ford H.S., PA
3:15 - Old Bridge H.S., NJ
3:30 - Downington West H.S., PA
3:45 - West Orange H.S., NJ
4:00 - John P. Stevens H.S., NJ
4:15 - EXH. Rutgers University Scarlet Marching Knights
This schedule is asterisk-less, as all of these bands are first-time attendees to this specific regional (to be fair, the number of bands that have kept up a name in BOA for two decades or more is very few). The morning kicks off with Bergenfield (NJ), a past USBands Festival Class participant and one of the largest bands in New Jersey. They’re followed up exclusively by other New Jersey bands in the first block, including several participants more familiar to fans of prominent local circuit Cavalcade of Bands and Northeastern states-centric USBands, such as the consistently high placer Cherokee (NJ). Next, Immaculata (NJ) returns to the Bands of America stage, once the Newark Class A champion in 2015. They’ll be hoping to translate a silver medal in USBands Group II this past season into a finals placement here at BOA. Finally, Wakefield (MA) debuted in BOA pre-pandemic at BOA College Park, barely missing finals with a 12th place finish (the competition year before Music for All extended Regional finals to 12 bands, because of course).
We’ll certainly have our eyes on Dartmouth (MA), a consistent WGI Indoor Percussion Scholastic World medalist since 1998 and a recent Guard Scholastic Open finalist. With a long tradition of success in USBands, it seems the band aims to conquer even higher-profile events now. Led by drum corps veteran Tom Aungst (a familiar face to many GEM readers), Dartmouth’s participation here may signal a new era for BOA’s foray into the Northeastern territory. After the break will be their two most significant threats at this event: James Madison (VA) and the aforementioned defending national Class AA champion Norwin (PA). James Madison will be coming off a bronze medal at Newark earlier this month, looking to either replicate or improve upon that placement here. Norwin will be the favorite to win as one of the firm leaders in Class AA nationally.
Almost half of the attendees at this regional will turn around and perform in at the NJMBDA State Championships, New Jersey’s state circuit championship event, less than 24 hours later; Immaculata, Bridgewater-Raritan (NJ), Cherokee, Old Bridge (NJ), Randolph (NJ), Elizabeth (NJ), West Orange (NJ), John P. Stevens (NJ), and Westfield (NJ) will all perform an hour away at The College of New Jersey’s Lions Stadium. In addition, Wakefield and Dartmouth will travel back up into Massachusetts to the stadium at Reading HS for NESBA Fall Activities Finals on Sunday as well - meaning the majority of the bands attending this regional won’t just be up for possibly two, but potentially four performances this weekend.
Despite taking place in what this Southern-ish author considers to be the frozen wasteland of the northern part of the country, the climate outlook is favorable: you’ll want a light jacket or sweater for the daytime, and you can probably leave the space heater in the car for finals in the evening. Marching arts fans who moonlight as history buffs may find the rich history of the area intriguing - Piscataway Township ranks among one of the oldest European settlements in the US. In turn, the favored champion is also one of the oldest participating bands in Bands of America history - earning Grand National titles as far back as the 1980s. Will Norwin’s winning tradition be upheld, or will Dartmouth debut as a dark horse? Will BOA’s return to New Jersey impact the marching band scene in the Northeast? Will the beauty of music education in action bring some better luck to the field for the hosting school’s football team? Tune in or turn up for the answers to these and more as this season’s seventh week of competition marches into action Saturday, October 29th. Three BOA regionals will be streaming live on BOX5-TV - and don’t forget to check in with us for the results!
Hattie Bartlett is an experienced marching arts content creator making her writing debut with GEM. As a former member of the color guard, she has traveled across the country covering events with WGI and Box5, as well as informally commentating via HornRank. Hattie is currently on staff at the University of Missouri as a field photographer and communications intern. She can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok as @ilikeguard.