The Strath Haven Panther Marching Band attended the Penncrest Festival of Bands at Penncrest High School on Saturday, September 28.
The SHHS Marching Band went to the Penncrest Festival of Bands to watch other bands and showcase their drumline and halftime show. At the festival’s end, they went on the field with the other bands to collectively perform “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC.
Attending the Penncrest Festival of Bands was a chance for the band to showcase all the hard work put in throughout the season. Band Director Mr. Nicholas Pignataro enjoys going to this band event and loves seeing the other bands perform.
“It is my favorite event of the year. It is the one I am the most stressed about every year because a lot of my colleagues are there. I’m glad to see so many students have smiles on their faces while we were there,” Pignataro said.
Pignataro always wants the band to try their best and he was pleased with the results from Penncrest.
“It was the most energetic performance which is odd because it wasn’t during a game situation. Maybe it was because there’s all these other bands that play well or maybe it was just a truly fun-loving music audience, but whatever it was it was really hype,” Pignataro said.
After the band’s performance, the judges provide feedback in front of the students and band directors.
“I thought that actually the feedback was an improvement from last year’s feedback. We fixed a lot of things that they said to us last year so that’s kinda cool,” Pignataro said. “With Mr. Bugosh saying that this was the best Strath Haven band he has ever seen, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
The activities that were offered prior to their performance were a highlight of the event.
“My favorite part of the festival was doing the scavenger hunt and getting to walk around and meet all the different people from the other bands and getting to talk to them,” freshman mellophone player Kate Susek said.
Getting to watch other bands perform was different for Strath Haven because they are used to only seeing one band perform at halftime.
“They all had different like movements and music which were really cool, and the flags, they were all different colors and they were very good,” freshman Lucy Dolle said.
Strath Haven’s performance brought lots of energy and was a valuable experience that allowed for growth.
“I got all my moves right and my steps were very clean and during Spice Up Your Life my dance moves were amazing; it was just great overall,” Dolle said.
