WHRHS NEWS Band victory
By Denis J. Kelly
The Marching Warriors Band at Watchung Hills Regional High School wins first place in class at high
school marching band competition
The Watchung Hills Regional High School Marching
Warriors Band won first place in their class of
schools, and fourth place overall, at the U.S. Bandssponsored band competition held on Saturday, Sept.
12, at Edison High School, Edison Township. From
left are: Senior Tuba player John Ray of Warren
Township, who is also the band’s Brass Captain;
Sophomore Tuba player Ethan Marmolejos of
Watchung;
Junior
Clarinet
player
Amelia
Stepperfenne of Millington; and new Band Director
Minesh Shah. The Marching Warriors Band can be
seen performing at all home football games, and their program this year are organized under the theme, “A Night
with Netflix,” and features music from the movies, “Captain America,” “The Lion King” and “Slumdog Millionaire.”
WARREN TWP. – The Watchung Hills Regional High School Marching Warriors Band won first place in
their class of schools, and fourth place overall, at the U.S. Bands-sponsored band competition held on
Saturday, Sept. 12, at Edison High School, Edison Township.
New Watchung Hills Band Director Minesh Shah said the strong showing in the competition is
particularly significant and impressive since it comes after the band has had to deal with both his arrival
this year as the new band director as well as his introduction of a new system of teaching for marching
band. He is familiar with this method, because he has used it as band instructor and director in other
schools, but the students had not been familiar with it.
Plus, Shah said, the summer construction at the Watchung Hills that resulted in the school’s new roof for
the North Wing and a completely refurbished front parking lot on Stirling Road, required that the band
annual summer camp be held off-campus at Watchung Middle School and the Little League Field
complex off Brookdale Road. Band camp ran from Monday, Aug. 17, to Thursday, Aug. 27.
“Everyone in Watchung was super cooperative and accommodating,” Shah said, “and the support of our
band parents was invaluable, but holding camp off-site was a challenge. It was a lot for the students to
handle all at once. Early on, however, the students realized they could get very good at marching band
very quickly if they stuck to this system of learning.”
Shah added that Marching Band is unique as a high school activity and learning opportunity in that, like
the football team, the band must be ready to demonstrate what they know and how much they have
progressed so early on in the school year. Most dramatically, they had to be perform the night of the
first home football game, which was Friday night, Sept. 11, against Elizabeth High School.
Turns out, the band was ready, not just for the Elizabeth game, but even earlier. They performed an
exhibition for an audience of parents, school administrators and teachers, at the end of band camp, on
Thursday, Aug. 27. The audience was assembled at the Watchung Hills football stadium, and the band
performed to a rousing applause, Shah said.
Then, they were doubly ready for the band competition on Sept. 12, at Edison High School.
The Watchung Hills Warrior Band finished first among Class A schools, and fourth overall, Shah said.
Class A schools are considered “emerging,” or seeking to present consistently better performances, Shah
said. Among their competitors in this class were Cranford High School, Ft. Lee High School, East
Brunswick High School, Neptune High School, and Central Bucks County High School in Pennsylvania.
At all these early performances, the band unveiled this year’s theme: “A Night with Netflix.” The set
performance piece this year includes three musical selections, one each from three popular categories
used by the internet-based broadcast network, Netflix. From the Netflix category of Classic Animation,
the Watchung Hills Band performs “The Circle of Life,” from the movie “The Lion King.” From the Netflix
category, Trending Now, the Watchung Hills Band performs, “March from Captain America,” from the
movie, “Captain America.” And from the Netflix category of Watch It Again, the Watchung Hills band
performs “Jai Ho,” from the movie, “Slumdog Millionaire.” There is also a Color Guard Solo and dance
solo during the “Circle of Life” selection.
There are some 100 students participating this year in the Watchung Hills Marching Band, Shah said,
with roughly equal numbers from each of the four years. Student musicians reported being proud of the
performance of their band in the competition at Edison High School, and eager to see just how far Mr.
Shah’s new teaching methods can help them to improve their musical and precision marching
capabilities.
“This is the first time in my four years in band that Watchung Hills has had such a strong showing in
competition, particularly this early in the season,” said Senior Tuba player and brass section captain John
Ray of Warren Township. “We have a lot to look forward to as the school year progresses.”
Sophomore Tuba player Ethan Marmolejos of Watchung, who last year was selected for the New Jersey
Scholastic State Band, said he agreed that even only about a month into this new system, they can tell
they are improving and moving to a higher performance level.
Junior clarinet player Amelia Stepperfenne of Millington said it has been a lot of hard work so far, but
that rehearsals have been very productive and efficient.
“We get a lot done in the same amount of time,” she said. “We can see a whole new level of ‘better’
that we have already achieved. It’s been intense.”
Shah explained that each player has a mini spiral notebook of index cards that provide a visual of where
each players should be and what piece of music they should be performing at any given time during the
performance. In between the moments when they are performing, they can refer to the mini notebook,
worn on a lanyard around their necks, to double check to see where they should be and what they
should be playing.
This year’s Drum Majors are: Senior Drum Major Alyssa Rosenblum and Junior Drum Major Andrew
Morrison.
Section captains, in addition to Ray as Brass Captain, are: Color Guard Captain, Jenna Stetz; Drumline
Captain, Owen DiDonna; and Woodwinds Captain, Kyle Korb.
Executive Officers are: Color Guard, Lindsay Muller; Flutes, Angela Celeste; Clarinets, Stephanie
Chavanne and Amanda Soliman; Alto Saxes, Ryan Schuler; Trumpets, Arjun Mahal; Mellophones, Carrie
Rucker; Trombones, Chris Barry; and Pit, Liz Bard.