This fall, the Branford High School (BHS) Marching Band took a giant leap forward to make its competitive debut. The group entered three band competitions this season, including one in which BHS took home silver following its best performance of the year; and another where Branford was recognized by the judges with a special Espirit de Corps award.

Beginning in September, members of the BHS Marching Band competed among Group 1A category high school marching bands from other schools around the state. The three contests took place on September 18 at Maloney in Meriden, October 2 at Norwich Free Academy (NFA) and October 23 in Southington, said Band Director and BHS Instrumental Music teacher Mallory Legman.

This fall was the first season the band wore its new uniforms for regular and competition performances. In January 2020, the band upgraded to the new look, but due to the pandemic, the uniforms were not worn until May, 2021, when the band marched in the 2021 Memorial Day Parade.

Legman noted the BHS marching band first started to dip a toe in the competitive performance world in 2017, always looking upon each opportunity as a way to learn, grow and have fun.

"Starting in 2017, the BHS marching band participated in competitions in a category called Festival Class, which gave us the opportunity to receive commentary by adjudicators; but is a non-competitive category," said Legman. "This year, we moved up to A Class, which is competitive. Judges have been impressed that this is our band's first competitive season, as they perform like a much more experienced group."

Instead of focusing on scores or placement, the BHS band instead focuses on taking away valuable feedback from judges while striving to improve their level of performance with each competition, she added. On Oct. 23, the BHS marching band succeeded in displaying its best performance of the 2021 competitive season at Southington High School, winning second place among four bands in the Group 1A category.

"The students' hard work has paid off, and they have improved tremendously since the first day of band camp in August," said Legman. "I am proud of the band's achievements, and I am especially proud of the students for representing our community positively by demonstrating kindness and support for all the other bands."

Those traits were also noticed by the judges at the 11-band NFA contest on October 2, when the BHS marching band was awarded the Ned Smith Espirit De Corps Award.  Legman said the award is presented to the band which most embodies the "values of marching band," such as respect, pride, support for other bands and courtesy to others throughout the competition.

"This is a huge honor, and I am extremely proud of our students for earning this distinction," said Legman.

Led this season by Drum Major Andrew Bono, a senior, the BHS Marching Band performs at all BHS home football games. Most recently, the band marched in the Branford Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 7.