West Orange HS Marching Mountaineers Capture State Title (PHOTOS)

WEST ORANGE, NJ — It’s back-to-back victories for the Marching Mountaineers.

The West Orange High School Marching Mountaineers captured first place in Class AAAA at the New Jersey Marching Band Directors State Championships, held Sunday at the College of New Jersey.

“Our show, entitled ‘The Gears of Time,’ wowed the audience and judges with its intricacies and showmanship,” marching band director Lew Kelly said.

“We traveled to the College of New Jersey to perform with 30 other bands in this show,” he continued. “The Mountaineers' final score was the highest in the entire event: the band scored a 95.6, and also won captions for Best Music and Best Effect.”

The program featured music from "Reflections of Earth: Chaos" by Gavin Greenway, "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish O'Connell and Finneas Baird O'Connell, and "Finale from Symphony No. 2 - Resurrection" by Gustav Mahler.

This is the second year in a row the band has won, making them back-to-back state champions for the second time in the school's history,” Kelly noted, congratulating students, staff and parents for an “amazing achievement.”

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