Local Bands Highlighted At Clarion County Marching Band Festival

Above: Central Clarion Wildcats Marching Band

Tuesday, October 10th was a very special night at Wiser Field at Clarion Area High School, as the Clarion County Music Association presented the 2023 Clarion County Marching Band Festival. This annual event showcases the talents of high school marching bands throughout the county as well as the PennWest University-Clarion band.

The high school bands featured included the Redbank Valley High School Marching Band, the Union/A-C Valley Falcon-Knight Marching Band, the Keystone Panther Marching Band and the host Central Clarion Wildcat Marching Band.

Master of Ceremonies, longtime Keystone Band director and football Public Address announcer Fran Nesta was the master of ceremonies. He kept things moving and upbeat all evening, making sure to praise and encourage the student musicians for their hard work and encouraged those in attendance to applaud their performances. Nesta sprinkled in bits of humor, insight into what it takes to make the commitment to play in the band and the benefits derived. He shared some historical trivia and and other background on the music played.

The program started with the National Anthem being played by seniors from all the high schools. This is the one and only time this “Special Band” will play together.

The Redbank Valley Bulldogs Marching Band (Director: Mr. Eli Terwilliger) was first up.

They performed “Rolling in the Deep,” “Hello” and Skyfall” by Adele.

Next up was the Union/A-C Valley Falcon Knights Marching Band (Director: Ms. Lisa E. Hummel).

For their performance, it was music by The Offspring. Selections included: “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy,” “The Kids Aren’t All Right” and “Come Out and Play.”

The next band to take “Center Stage” was the Keystone High School Marching Band (Director: Mr. Christopher Long). They entertained the audience with the music of Lady Gaga. The selection included: “Applause,” “Born This Way,” “Just Dance” and “The Edge of Glory.”

The final high school band to perform was the host Central Clarion Wildcat Marching Band (Director: Miss Sarah Dawson). The band includes students from Clarion Area, North Clarion and Clarion-Limestone. This is the first year for the band, with Clarion and North Clarion students wearing the Clarion Bobcat uniforms and the Clarion-Limestone students wearing the Clarion-Limestone Lions uniforms. Next year the band will have brand new Central Clarion Wildcat uniforms.

Central Clarion presented a Throwback Mix, which included: Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.”

And for the Finale, it was the PennWest Clarion University Marching Band (Director: Dr. Andrew Ortega), doing a presentation of the music from the movie “The Mask of Zorro.”

As you probably noticed, I didn’t use superlatives in describing the bands’ performances. I didn’t want to seem to single any out. Suffice it to say, each one of the bands that performed did a SUPER JOB!!!!

And a great event like this only comes about through the efforts of many folks, businesses and organizations etc.

This year some of those of note include: Clarion County Music Educators Association; Clarion Area School District for hosting (administration and school board, Jim Smyton-Technical Director, Mike Fagley-Building and Grounds, Clarion Music Boosters Association/concessions); the ticket takers; all the bands and their school districts; the fans; Fran Nesta for his great work as emcee and the Explore Clarion broadcast crew of Dustin Kifer-producer, Mike Kalinowski-announcer and Brett English-sideline camera man for broadcasting for those who couldn’t attend; and a host of others.

Host Director, Sarah Dawson shared these nice words about the event, “The CCMEA marching band festival is one of my favorite nights of the whole year because it gives the students and community a unique opportunity to see all of the hard work each band puts in over the season in the spotlight. One night, all about the bands. Hosting was extra special because we had the chance to share this memory at our own newly-renovated Wiser Field, in the first year of the Central Clarion marching band co-op. It was neat how those elements culminated for this fall’s event. Everything ran very smoothly and each band gave an outstanding performance.”

(Just a fantastic night!!!! Great job to all involved!!!!)