Bands of America is a Program of Music for All
Bands of America is a program of Music for All, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit educational organization, whose mission is to create, provide, and expand positively life-changing experiences through music for all.
Bands of America Advisory Committee
The purpose of the Bands of America Advisory Committee is to provide input to Music for All leadership on all aspects of BOA’s Fall Championship programs and events. The scope of the committee will focus on the marching band aspects of the organization with commitment to helping provide positively life-changing experiences for all participating bands. The committee is comprised of directors representing from each of the four classes and of diverse geography.
Tim Allshouse
Blue Springs H.S.,MO
Austin Bralley
Beechwood H.S., KY
Lafe Cook
Dobyns-Bennett H.S., TN
Kevin Ford
Tarpon Springs H.S., FL
Daniel Franco
Covina H.S., CA
Melissa Gustafson-Hinds
O’Fallon Township H.S., IL
Matt Harloff
Avon H.S., IN
Bobby Lambert
Wando H.S., SC
Jorge Lozano
Hidalgo Early College H.S., TX
Victoria Meraz
Willard H.S., MO
Joey Paul
Aledo H.S., TX
Michael Pote
Carmel H.S., IN
Mac Purdy
Pinecrest Academy of Nevada-Cadence, NV
MyKayla Roskos-Neilson
Fairfield Jr.-Sr. H.S., IN
Andy Sealy
Hebron H.S., TX
Renee Shane-Boyd
Catalina Foothills H.S., AZ
Jon Shultz
Lake Hamilton H.S., AR
Kim Shuttlesworth
Coppell H.S., TX
Ken Snoeck
Committee Chairman, Retired
Todd Tucker
Archbishop Alter H.S., OH
Tim Zeiss
Murray H.S., KY
Music for All’s mission is to create, provide, and expand positively life-changing experiences through music.
Our Bands of America Championships, presented by Yamaha, provide opportunities to perform in the finest venues, receive quality evaluation, and to observe other bands, all in a positive, affirming, and celebratory atmosphere. Participating bands receive commentary from the most skilled judges and educators in the nation. For the band director, Bands of America Championships are an opportunity to demonstrate excellence, and to evaluate the achievement of your students, as well as the progress of your program on a national level.
Bands of America fall programs are one of the myriad ways Music for All works year-round to support and advance music education for everyone.
Read ‘The Value of Competition and Audience: You Have An Important Part to Play’
Regional Championships
Bands of America Regional Championships are complete championships and educational events in their own right, not qualifying events for the Grand National Championships. Up to 32 bands perform in preliminary competition with 12 bands advancing to the evening Finals.
Super Regional Championships
Bands of America Super Regionals offer enhanced two-day regional events at world-class venues, second only to the Grand Nationals experience. Due to the successful Super Regional expansion in 2018, we will continue this format that allows a maximum of 84 participating bands utilizing two judging panels for preliminary competition. Prelims will take place over two days, with a maximum of 52 bands on Friday, 32 bands on Saturday, and a 14-band finals competition on Saturday evening. This allows Music for All to meet our obligations to provide access to as many bands as possible each year.
Grand National Championships
Music for All’s Bands of America Grand National Championships, presented by Yamaha is the nation’s most exciting marching band event. First and foremost, Grand Nationals is an educational performance opportunity open to all high school bands, on a first-come, first-served basis. Grand Nationals is also a spectacular music and pageantry event, one that band fans from across the nation and around the world travel to for the exciting and creative performances.
The Grand National Championships is a three-day, Preliminary, Semi-Finals, Finals event, held in Lucas Oil Stadium, one of the world’s premier indoor venues. Bands receive recorded evaluation from panels of leading educators and marching experts, along with written scoresheets. Forty-five bands perform in each of the two separate Prelims contests, balanced with like numbers of bands from each class. Thirty bands then advance to Semi-Finals with a formula that ensures inclusion of representatives of each of the four classes and the top scoring bands from the two separate Prelims contests and the overall event. (See Procedures and Adjudication Handbook for specifics.) The top 12 scoring bands from Semi-Finals, regardless of class, advance to Saturday evening’s finals.