By Ed Birch, Special Writer
South Brunswick High School hosted their 33rd annual Marching Band Tournament Saturday.
The event, which is sanctioned by the USBands national organization, is the leading source of financial support for the high school marching band, according to organizers.
The national organization has some 700 member bands and sanctions competitions throughout the country, according to its website.
The SBHS band has been under the direction of Mark Kraft for the past 32 years. The visual design for the annual program is done by Mark’s wife, Virginia Kraft.
This year’s event featured 24 high school bands from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Twenty-three competing bands were reviewed and rated by nationally accredited music judges for music selection, visual performance, overall effect, color guard, and percussion. Members of the rating panel came from as far away as Ohio.
The highlight of the day’s festivities was a special performance by the Rutgers University Scarlet Knight Marching Band. The band, under the direction of Mason-Gross School Music Professor Timothy Smith, bused over directly from the University of Connecticut versus Rutgers home football game in Piscataway.
The winning schools in the Best Music categories were Monsignor Farrel High School of Staten Island, New York, Paquannook Township, West Windsor-Plainsboro, Linden, Old Bridge, Ridgewood, and Hillsborough high schools in New Jersey, and Narareth Area High School of Pennsylvania.
”It was quite a day for our marching band,” said Professor Smith. “By doing these types of shows specially at big schools like South Brunswick High School, we are able to recruit top music students for our band, and we spread the word to the newer students at the high school about our program at Rutgers.”
Keith Lally is a sophomore at Rutgers and a graduate from South Brunswick High School.
He plays the baritone in the Scarlet Knights Marching Band and was also a past Drum Major from the Vikings Marching Band.
He is presently a Music major at the Piscataway campus and said he wants to become a high school music teacher after graduation.
He still has friends in the Vikings Marching Band and said he had many family members come out to the exhibition to see him play Saturday.
The final performance of the evening was reserved as an exhibition for the hometown South Brunswick Vikings Band who did not compete against the other bands.
Following the individual awards, Mayor Frank Gambatese awarded the 2012 Mayor’s Cup to the Hillsborough High School Marching Band for their outstanding performance.

