Middleton, Fla. — It's an eight-letter word that The Villages High School Buffalo Marching Band heard seven times on Saturday night in Middleton. "Music: Superior. Music: Superior. Visual Marching Maneuvering: Superior. General Effect: Superior. Percussion: Superior. Auxiliary: Superior. Final Rating: Superior," read off the public address announcer at the Florida Bandmaster Association's District 19 Marching Music Performance Assessment, held at The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium for the first time.
Those seven "Superior" ratings plus a final total rating of "Superior" were earned by the Buffalo Marching Band in the final performance of a long day.
The Florida Bandmaster's Association (commonly known as FBA) holds multiple Music Performance Assessments (commonly known as MPA) across the state. Each District of the FBA is responsible for hosting a Marching MPA at the end of Marching season, typically coinciding with the last week of the regular season for Florida high school football. For District 19, the district that VHS is a member of, Marching MPA has called Leesburg High School home for over forty years. That is until Saturday, when FBA District 19 hosted Marching MPA on the campus of The Villages High School. The event started at 1:30 PM with the Star Spangled Banner performed by the Middle School Honor Band, a group comprised of select middle school band students from across FBA District 19. Multiple students of The Villages Charter Middle School band programs represented The Villages.
Planning for the event started in July as VHS Band Director Colt Campbell proposed VHS as the host to District 19. By August, the location was set. An event that saw over 3,000 fans in attendance, over 700 musicians, and a volunteer staff of over 40 parents and middle school band directors was by every measure a huge success. The VHS Band's motto: "Great Band. Better People." and one of The Villages Charter School's Core Values of Hospitality was exemplified by the coordinated efforts of every member of the Band being involved in the hosting of 18 schools from across Lake, Sumter, and Marion Counties.
"They [FBA District 19] want to host it here every year now, of course," Colt Campbell said with a grin on his face. A day that started for Campbell before the sun rose in East ended over four hours after it set in the West. But, at the end of the day, he and the band walk away with their goals accomplished and a lot to be proud of.
Marty Dzuro can be reached for questions or comment via email at martin.dzuro@tvcs.org.
