After a season full of ups and downs, the marching band finishes strong at the Virginia State Assessment

Each year at the end of their season, high school bands from all over Virginia gather for the Marching Band State Assessment. This year, the state assessment was held at Patriot High School on Oct. 28 where the Potomac Falls marching band earned a Superior Rating, the highest honor at the state level.

The bands perform for a set of seven judges who are all looking for a level of high achievement and assessing the quality of work being displayed. “These seven judges need to be convinced that the children are performing at a top-notch level,” said Band Director Tim Niebergall. “In this case, getting a Superior Rating means that a vast majority, if not all judges, felt that Potomac Falls delivered a superb performance.”

The marching band prepared all season long for their competitions and assessments, rehearsing three days a week every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for two hours. Along with their extensive academic-year practices, a seven-day camp is held in August before school begins. “This summer, we had 89 students attend our camp, which really helped us to jump-start the season,” said Niebergall.

Earning a Superior Rating is a huge accomplishment, with only about 20 percent of Marching Band programs being awarded the title. “Programs of our size and smaller are at an overall disadvantage. Our school does not have a population of four to five thousand like Lake Braddock or Westfield. Because we are so much smaller than other programs in the area, we have to give every performance our all and tough it out with the big guys to get that kind of rating,” said Niebergall.

At the assessment, judges give each performance a score one through five, a one being the highest rating. “[Potomac Falls Marching Band] deserved nothing less than the best possible score,” said senior Spencer Suchoski, who plays Tuba. “If the judges decide your program receives a ‘one,’ you get a superior rating, so of course we’re always shooting for a one.”

Each year, the marching band season has a theme that inspires the music and visuals of their shows. This year, the theme was ‘70s Rock. “I think this year’s theme compares well with my freshman season, which was personally my favorite because of the design of the show, All About Jazz,” said Suchoski.

Marching Band’s lineup for the state assessment consisted of “School’s Out“ by Alice Cooper, a collaboration of Chicago songs “Make Me Smile” and “Free,” a collaboration of Blood Sweat and Tears songs “God Bless the Child” and “Spinning Wheel,” and “Saturday Nights Alright” by Elton John.

For sophomore Justin Lemma, this state assessment was a chance to show his improvement. “We certainly gave it the run of our life,” said Lemma, who plays clarinet.

While Potomac Falls found success at he State Assessment, Niebergall described their previous competitions this season as “wonderfully frustrating.”

The frustration comes from several close calls including at their first competition when the band came in second place, missing first by only a point.

“A few weeks later, we traveled to New Jersey to compete and came in nine-tenths of a point out of first place. Later, at the Parade of Champions at James Madison University, we missed third place by fifteen one-hundredths of a point. So we were doing great; we just ran into some really good programs that slipped ahead of us,” said Niebergall.