by Tom Dean and Mark Eifler, Directors

On November 8th, the Castle Marching Knights competed in the Indiana State School Marching Association (ISSMA) State Finals Championships in Lucus Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. Castle competed in Class A Finals, representing the largest high schools of the State based upon enrollment, and other area bands also competed in their respective classes.

Castle finished 7th overall in the State of Indiana in Class A competition in an extremely competitive and talented group of Class A programs. Other top ranked programs competing included Avon (Danville), Homestead (Fort Wayne), Carmel, Goshen, Lawrence Township (Indianapolis), Lake Central (Munster), Carroll (Fort Wayne), Center Grove (Greenwood), and Penn (Fort Wayne).

Other area bands also placed high in this past weekend’s State Finals competition:

Class D

  • 1st Forest Park
  • 2nd Springs Valley
  • 4th South Spencer
  • 5th Mater Dei
  • 7th North Posey

Class B

  • 5th Jasper

Class A

  • 7th Castle

The Castle Marching Knights consist of 200 members, including 131 Winds (flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, horns, baritones, and tubas) 30 Percussion (xylophone, marimbas, vibes, timpani, snare drum, tenor drum, multi-pitched bass drums) 36 Color Guard (flags, sabers and rifles) and 3 drum majors.

Castle will travel to its final competition of the marching band season this weekend, when it competes against 100 of the top marching band programs in the County at the 2014 Bands of America Grand National Championships. The Grand Nationals competition begins Thursday, November 14th with preliminary conmpetitions, and Castle will perform at 12:30 pm (EST) on Friday, November 15th. Castle will be vying for a coveted position in the TOP 24 Bands in the Country to be selected for the Semi-Finals Competition to be held on Saturday, November 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium. From the Semi-Finals, the TOP 12 bands in the Country will be selected for the Finals Championships to be held that evening.

Castle accepts their 7th place trophy in the Indiana State Class A Finals Championships. Many experts described the Class A Finals as the most competitive in recent memory.

This year’s show is entitled “The Weyward Sisters” and is an adaption and interpretation of Shakespeare’s MacBeth. With dazzling color guard costumes, a boiling cauldron and fourteen large forest trees encircling the entire band, the Knights present a dazzling rendition of the story of MacBeth in four movements. An intricate drill and a equally commanding music score helps tell the story, and the complex drill and music has received praise and recognition from judges and programs from across the country.

Earlier this season, for the first time in Castle history, the Castle Marching Knights were named Regional Champions of the Bands of America Louisville Regional Championships on September 20, 2014, beating several prestigious marching band programs. They also competed on October 24-25th in the Bands of America Indianapolis Super Regional, where they were selected to perform in the Finals competition ending in 10th place out of 65 competing bands from eight (8) states. Castle’s score of 82 was less than 1.0 pt from 6th place.

 

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