VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: JMA Wireless Dome hosts annual NYS Field Band Championships
Lindsay: This past weekend the JMA Wireless Dome hosted the annual New York State Field Band Championships. High schools from all across New York State participate in this competition. But those who are not marching band fanatics may not realize that there’s another aspect of this competition. Each marching band also features a color guard performance, which enhances the music with visual aspects. A New Hartford High School senior who was previously a band member made the switch to strictly color guard and led the team’s performance this year.
Andrew Lawin: The band director asked me if I was comfortable with doing this and I just said it’s amazing it’s my senior year, of course I’d like to do this. The whole experience has been just so amazing I’m so grateful I got to end my senior year like this, doing something that I love.
Lindsay: Color guard certainly adds to a band’s routine. The state championships mark the marching band season coming to a close. As the leaves change color, the focus will shift to the upcoming winter guard season. And that’ll do it for NCC Sports, I’m Lindsay Arons.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – High School Marching Band teams from all across the state of New York convene annually at the JMA Wireless Dome to compete in the New York State Field Band Championships. This year’s competition took place on Oct. 27.
Marching band aficionados know that bands may also feature a color guard. A color guard is a team of performers who entertain with choreographed dances and routines that incorporate equipment that enhances and interprets the music.
Andrew Lawin, a New Hartford High School senior, has been competing on the marching band team since age 12. In last year’s championship, he was the only one of more than 4,000 competitors who both played an instrument and showcased color guard skills in the same show.
This year, Lawin was strictly a color guard performer and played the title role of “Icarus” — the Greek mythological character who flies too close to the sun. Exhibiting a combination of grace, dance skills and power, Lawin performed a pair of rifle tosses called “sevens” because of the number of rotations the rifle makes. One toss was high enough Lawin was able to add to the degree of difficulty by spinning himself twice in place before reclaiming the rifle from the air.
“The band director asked me if I was comfortable with doing this and I just said, it’s amazing, it’s my senior year, of course I’d like to do this,” said Lawin. “The whole experience has been so amazing I’m so grateful I got to end my senior year like this, doing something that I love.”