King Philip Gets 17th Gold

On Sunday, the King Philip Marching Band, The Pride and the Passion, took a record-breaking 17th consecutive gold medal at the statewide Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association Festival in Framingham. The band presented "Any Questions? Music of Leonard Bernstein," to become one of only five bands to receive gold. King Philip was the only band in Division III to receive a gold medal.

King Philip also won 5-star ratings in all judging captions, including visual, music, percussion, auxiliary, and general effect. These perfect ratings were also a record consecutive number of 10. King Philip has been participating in the MICCA State Marching Band Finals since 1987, earning gold medal status from the outset, a record unmatched by any other band

Thirty-three bands participated in the statewide finals, in four divisions based on the enrollment of the school.

Students consider the MICCA State Marching Band Finals a tough performance. Bands are rated against a rubric and criteria by a set of six adjudicators. These judges included Chad Shoopman, the director of music education at Disney World Studio in Orlando, Florida, as well as other leading judges in music performance and color guard.

King Philip began its preparations for the State Finals with a spring band camp followed by a band camp on Lake Sebago in Maine at the end of August. The band has 76 students enrolled including thirteen seniors.

Selections included in "Any Questions? Music of Leonard Bernstein" are from "Fancy Free," "On the Town," the "Jeremiah" Symphony, and "Candide."

The band will give a final performance of "Any Questions?" at the Annual Winter Pops Concert on December 6, 2004 at 7 PM in the High School Lower Gymnasium. The Pops is an annual event when the community enjoys a touch of Boston in Wrentham, sitting at colorfully decorated tables, enjoying snacks and hearing exceptional music performances. Many concertgoers in- the-know make plans to arrive at the 6:00 p.m. opening to get a good seat.

### 10/29/2003