Suffern Marching Band during a halftime show this past fall. Photo still courtesy of Groovisthemoovis.
It’s one of those Ramapo Central Schools groups that adds spirit and music to most any event — the Suffern High School Marching Band.
From victory and Halloween parades to football, the pounding drums, big brass, twirling flags and marching moves of the SHS Marching Band has given many a community event that extra oomph. This year, Suffern’s band swept through the USBands Empire Cup competition in Uniondale, NY, where it captured the Group IV New York State champion crown. The band’s Beatlemania halftime show earned awards for Best Percussion, Best Visual, Best Music, Best Effect and Best Color Guard.
Suffern High School band director and music teacher Randy Schwartz has helped grow the band into one of Ramapo Central’s distinctive student assets. USBands competitors are assigned to divisions according to size.Over the past three years, SHS has moved up from Group II to Group IV, as band membership has doubled to 86 students. And, unlike other programs, participation is voluntary.
“Kids are choosing to stay in the performing groups because of the high quality of Ramapo Central’s music department,” said Schwartz.
A quick glance at the band page Schwartz maintains shows the wide-ranging opportunities available to music makers in the school district, from Band Choir and Jazz Band to Percussion and Saxophone Ensemble to weeklong summer band camp and rehearsals three times a week. During the fall season, the marching band performs at Suffern High School football games and parades, and competes in several judged events.
“Competition taps into kids’ desire to excel and provides an incentive to developing their skills,” Schwartz said. “And when you get to a certain size and level of performance, a band starts to recruit for itself. With numbers comes coolness.”
Photo caption: The Suffern High School Marching Band won the USBands Empire Cup in October 2013 to become the Group IV New York State champion.
Jen Citrolo contributed to this report.
