Placed Second in Brick Township Music Fest Competition

RUMSON, NJ - School marching bands came from all over New Jersey to compete at the Brick Township Music Fest held under the auspices of the United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA). Each marching band performed its entire field show for a panel of judges. Categories included: Music Ensemble, Visual Presentation, Color Guard, Percussion, and Overall Effect. RFHRHS musicians performed in the competition for the first time last year, and this year the Marching Band returned and earned Second Place honors. Beyond the overall achievement, caption awards were given for Best Color Guard and Best Overall Effect.

RFHRHS Marching Band leaders from L to R: Meg Reulbach, Color Guard Captain, Katie Grabowy, Assistant Drum Major, Heather Zaccaro, Drum Major and Brad Carter, Brass Section leader. Photo credit: Donna Gialanella

RFH Instrumental Music Instructor and Marching Band Advisor Bill Grillo said, “The level of achievement among all of the bands is extremely high, and our band is very proud of the growth we have shown in the past two years. We hope to continue a tradition of entertaining our home crowds at football games, but to now also compete among the best bands in the state and show off the legitimacy of our marching band program.”

Following on this success, the RFH Marching Band competed at the USSBA Northern States Championships in Allentown, PA on Sunday, November 7^th. At this event they faced 23 IA bands from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut. They finished in 12^th place and earned caption placements of 5^th in Overall Effect, 5^th for Color Guard and 8^th for Percussion.

RFHRHS Marching Band with advisor Mr. Bill Grillo in the center.

After this excellent performance, Mr. Grillo said, “The band has done everything the staff has asked, and this has continued to pay off throughout the course of this year.  The students represented RFH with pride and excellent musicianship.”