The weekend of September 13, the North Royalton High School Marching Band had big events on both Friday and Saturday night. Friday night, the band welcomed more than 80 Alumni Royalettes and Royalaires to perform with the band on the field at halftime alongside the current marching band. This exciting night allowed alumni to once again perform “under the lights” and alumni spanning decades were reunited to perform. The band recognized all the advisors and instructors for the Royalettes and Royalaires over the decades, but a particularly important milestone was reached, when Royalette Advisor, Karen Colabianchi, was acknowledged for her 40th year of teaching with the Band Front. Mrs. Colabianchi, rather than watching from the sidelines, was out on the field performing right alongside the more than 80 Alumni Royalettes and Royalaires that returned for an exciting halftime performance.
On Saturday, September 14, North Royalton hosted their annual “Festival of Bands” and welcomed 11 bands to perform for an absolutely packed stadium. There were bands featured from all around the Greater Cleveland area performing a variety of styles of music. The NRHS Marching band premiered this year’s competition show entitled “Stronger” at the event. The night concluded with all 11 bands taking the field simultaneously, combining over 1,400 student performers to play “America the Beautiful” in a spectacular finale. This is a favorite moment for both audience members and performers alike.
“This was a big weekend for us,” said the Director of Bands David Vitale. “In addition to being able to see a variety of different marching bands at our Festival of Bands, we treat our Band Fest performance as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for our upcoming contests. We are continuing to make changes, cleaning the music and the drill, and preparing the show before we put it in front of a panel of adjudicators. So our Festival of Bands is a perfect opportunity for us. And the grand finale at the end of the night is just spectacular. We have had alumni come back and tell us that they have never been part of a finale like that and it is one of their top memories from high school.”
The North Royalton High School Marching Band marches into their first competition on Saturday, September 21 at Sandusky Perkins.