The Science Hill High School Marching Band performs “Rebirth – The Tree of Life” during the Contest of Champions on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. CONTRIBUTED
This highly selective marching band contest puts some of the top bands from several states in head-to-head competition. Twenty-seven bands in three different classes each took their turn on the field, performing their own unique show, to be judged for both musical and visual performance. The eight highest scoring bands in these preliminaries would have the privilege of performing a second time to compete for the title of Grand Champion.
In the preliminaries, the Topper Band performed its 2018 competition show, “Rebirth – The Tree of Life.” The performance earned the Science Hill band Superior Ratings, and the ‘Toppers outscored eight other bands in their classification to win first place in Class AA and qualify for the finals.
As the lone Class AA band in the final round – the other seven bands were in Class AAA – Science Hill put together another strong performance to finish fourth place overall in the Contest of Champions.
“The kids had a great preliminary run in the morning – luckily the rain let up before our performance. They put up a good score that placed them in the top tier of bands for the day,” said Science Hill Director of Bands, Dr. Carson Vermillion. “The Finals run was even better, since there was no pressure on them – they had made Finals; our goal for the competition.”
The success at MTSU capped off a winning season for the band of 140 students. In their first contest of the season, Music in The Castle at Tennessee High School, the Topper Band earned the titles of Grand Champion and Band of The Day, in addition to taking home First Place in Music, Visual, Percussion, and Class AAAA Band.
The Science Hill Band capped off its season recently by finishing first in their classification and fourth overall at the Contest of Champions in Murfreesboro. CONTRIBUTED
Dr. Vermillion noted that this year’s band not only met its goals – it exceeded them.
“We entered the season with three goals: win the Grand Championships at Tennessee High and South Caldwell and to make finals at MTSU’s Contest of Champions,” Vermillion said. “We met all of those goals and actually exceeded expectations by winning our class and placing fourth in the finals at Contest of Champions.
“A special thank you to all of our community partners that contributed so much to the band’s overall success this year. We appreciate your support and take great pride in representing our community in all of our travels and performances. Go Toppers!”
