The New York State Field Band Conference (NYSFBC) will hold its 45th championship show on Sunday, Oct. 28, at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. This championship competition will bring together over 50 of the finest high school marching bands in the Northeastern United States, including the West Seneca Marching Band.
The NYSFBC Championship is the culmination of an eight-week season featuring over 60 bands in 33 regional competitions throughout the state. Band members, directors, staff members and boosters from each of the competing schools will have spent countless hours preparing for this prestigious event.
Bands are divided into six different classifications based on school size and past competitive experience. Each band in the championship show will perform a musical and visual show lasting about 10 minutes for a panel of 10 judges. The judges will score and rank each band within its class. Each band will receive a plaque and the highest scoring New York State band in each class will take home the coveted Governor’s Cup.
West Seneca Marching Band is part of the Large School 2 Class along with Corning-Painted Post, Horseheads, Huntington, Jamestown, Kingston, Lindenhurst, Orchard Park, Sachem and Webster. This group’s competition will take the field at about 3 p.m.
The bands in the championship show will represent nearly every region of the state along with two bands from Pennsylvania and one from New Jersey. During the day there will also be exhibition performances by the University at Buffalo Thunder of the East Marching Band as well as the Syracuse University Marching Band.
Tickets for the event may be purchased on the day of at the Carrier Dome ticket booths. Admission is $19 for adults and $13 for students and seniors. Tickets are good for the entire day of the competition, which begins at 8 a.m.
Additional information about the championship show, including exact performance times for each band as well as results from the regular season contests and a history of the conference, may be found online at www.nysfbc.org.
