Fair Lawn High School Marching Band

The Fair Lawn High School Marching Band & Color Guard earned their highest score of the season at the 2008 United States National Marching Band Championships in Annapolis, MD on November. 8.

The Cutters were awarded a score of 93.5 out of a possible 100 points for their performance at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium at the U.S. Naval Academy. Fair Lawn finished 13th at the national championships, their eighth straight national Top 20 finish.

The band placed fifth in the Individual Music caption.

Fair Lawn was one of only 40 schools in the country to compete for the championships on Saturday and is the only Bergen County school to perform in each of the first three national championships. The band earned a Bronze medal at the inaugural event in 2006.

Their return to nationals once again put Fair Lawn in the spotlight. The marching band and color guard’s final rehearsal attracted positive media attention with news crews and reporters from WCBS-TV channel 2, My9-TV channel 9, WCBS-880 AM radio and The Record reporting from Sasso Field.

Following a four-hour practice, the students enjoyed a send-off dinner catered by Giovanni’s Deli that was sponsored by TD Commerce Bank before a caravan of buses made the trip to Annapolis.

“We’re proud to represent Fair Lawn on the national stage,” said director of bands Paul Kafer. “I’m very happy with our performance. Each year the competition at nationals has gotten stronger and there were so many good bands there this year. It’s rewarding to see that we can play at the highest level.”

The band’s 2008 show brought many new changes to the program. This year’s ensemble featured many new students and was the largest in school history with 101 students including a record 24 girls in the color guard. Kafer added new instructors to his dedicated staff and this year’s show combined elements of drum corps with traditional marching. The nine-minute, non-stop show featured original music by staff instructor Alex Knox and the highly choreographed performance featured 81 musical movements and formations that covered an entire football field.

Fair Lawn won three of four USSBA band festivals to open its 2008 season and finished second at the Southern New Jersey Regional Championships. The band’s performance at Annapolis marked the eighth consecutive week that their score improved.

With 29 seniors graduating, the 2009 season presents opportunities for even more students to join the award-winning program. In addition to traveling to the national championships, the band will perform at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL in January.

Anyone interested in joining the band, including current middle school 8th graders, should contact Mr. Kafer in the band room.

For additional information about the Marching Band & Color Guard including their complete 2008 schedule visit the links on the website.