The 51st Indiana State School Music Association Marching Band season steps off on Saturday.
This year’s events will feature 171 Indiana high school marching bands participating in the festival, scholastic or open class. the festival class is a non-competitive classification which places a greater emphasis on the musical aspects of the performance. the scholastic class was created in 2013 and takes into consideration band size as well as school enrollment. the open class is for those bands desiring to perform at the state finals held at Lucas Oil Stadium by qualification through a regional and semi-state event, according to a provided news release.
Scholastic class and open class bands receive an educational assessment in the performance and effectiveness of the music and visual aspects of their performance. All bands, regardless of classification, receive a gold, silver, bronze or participation rating based upon their level of achievement.
Festival class events will be held at Southport High School and Crown Point High School on Saturday. The Scholastic Class Prelims followed by the Open Class Invitational will be held on Oct. 5 at Homestead High School, Fort Wayne; Plymouth High School, Whiteland Community High School and the Jerry Brewer Stadium/Jasper. Open class regionals will be held on Oct. 12 at Carroll High School, Fort Wayne; Lafayette Jefferson High School; Center Grove High School, Greenwood; and Evansville Central High School.
The top 16 scholastic class bands from each class at the Scholastic Prelims will perform at the scholastic finals on Oct. 19 at Franklin Central High School, Indianapolis. The top 10 open class bands in each class at each Regional site will participate in the open class semi-state to be held on Oct. 26 at Franklin Community High School (Open D), Decatur Central High School, Indianapolis (Open C); Pike High School, Indianapolis (Open B); and Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis (Open A). Admission at each event is $10 for adults and $7 for students and preschoolers.
The state marching band finals will be held on Nov. 9 at Lucas Oil Stadium, where the four state champion bands will be crowned. Admission for the state finals is $25 for adults and $20.00 for students and preschoolers.
ISSMA will welcome Paige’s Music as the presenting sponsor of the 2024 ISSMA state marching band finals. ISSMA will welcome Band Shoppe, Music Travel Consultants, and Vincennes University as supporting sponsors and the American Dairy Association Indiana and Prairie Farms Dairy as sponsors of a $1,000 “Winners Drink Milk” scholarship to be awarded to a student from each of the four state champion bands.
Composite schedules for each festival, scholastic prelims, open invitational and open regional site are now available at www.issma.net.