It’s a busy time of year in the band world! Last weekend the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) held State Finals competition, and this coming weekend is the Bands of America (BOA) Grand National Championships–both in downtown Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium! These events are usually within a few weeks of each other, but this year all the excitement is packed into one 7-day period.

First, I wanted to share the results of ISSMA Marching state finals. Huge congratulations are due to all groups, whose hard work took them to the stadium floor last weekend. Special mention is also due to the Warren Central Marching Black and Gold Brigade, who placed first in Scholastic State Finals and performed as an exhibition group at Lucas Oil on Saturday morning. Scholastic Class is reserved for Class A and B schools whose band numbers are under a certain amount.

Class A
1. Carmel
2. Avon
3. Homestead/Ft. Wayne
4. Fishers
5. Castle/Newburgh
6. Center Grove/Greenwood
7. Plainfield
8. Carroll/Ft. Wayne
9. Concord/Elkhart
10. Penn/Mishawaka
Class B
1. Greenwood
2. Greenfield Central
3. Northview/Brazil
4. Munster
5. Jasper
6. Northside/Ft. Wayne
7. Bloomington North
8. Evansville North
9. Pendleton Heights
10. Northridge/Middlebury
Class C
1. Edgewood/Ellettsville
2. Western/Russiaville
3. Lewis Cass/Walton
4. Lincoln/Vincennes
5. NorthWood/Nappanee
6. Norwell/Ossian
7. Mount Vernon
8. Concordia Lutheran/Ft. Wayne
9. Scottsburg
10. Owen Valley/Spencer
Class D
1. Forest Park/Ferdinand
2. Springs Valley/French Lick
3. Paoli
4. Fairfield/Goshen
5. Mater Dei/Evansville
6. Monrovia
7. Clay City
8. South Spencer/Rockport (tie)
8. Woodlan/Woodburn (tie)
10. Orleans

Congratulations to all bands! And now, let’s turn our attention to the excitement this weekend: BOA “Grand Nats”! This is a huge, nationwide event that convenes in downtown Indianapolis every year, and this year promises to be another one full of the greatest marching bands in the country. Since this is such a huge event, I wanted to make sure to post some helpful information for potential attendees. You can find the preliminary schedule and a full list of bands performing here. Saturday’s finals schedule is determined after preliminaries end on Friday evening. Tickets to all events can be purchased here. Show veterans STRONGLY recommend arriving early on Saturday morning for the best seats and an easier time parking. Paige’s Music is the official music store for this event, and we will have emergency repair staff on site for the whole weekend. Hope to see you there!