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East Allegheny Marching Band earns state title
NORTH VERSAILLES — Yo Adrian, they did it!
Playing a Rocky-themed show, the East Allegheny Marching Band captured a state championship over the weekend at Altoona’s Mansion Park to cap off a successful fall season.
“It’s just a credit to the kids and how hard they worked,” said band director Justin Rosco, an East Allegheny alumnus himself. “We had a ton of rookies this year, and for them to work as hard as they did and perform well beyond their years, it’s just an awesome thing for me to watch them grow up real quick right before my eyes. … This is something they’ll remember forever. It’s just really awesome.”
The show was inspired by the Rocky movie series, with the band taking the audience through the boxer’s story.
The introduction begins with Rocky and his opponent being introduced in the ring, with band members dressed up in costume. The actors include Rocky, his opponent, a referee, and Mickey Goldmill.
The music kicks off with the famed Rocky theme song before transitioning into Mickey’s ballad.
“It’s a gorgeous ballad that we had arranged with features and soloists, and there are voiceovers with quotes from the movie,” Rosco said. “It really does take you on a little story from there.”
From there, the performance shows Rocky preparing for the fight, including the famed scene in which Rocky runs up the steps. The training montage song is from Rocky IV.
“Everyone seems to go nuts when that happens (during the show),” said Rosco, who has been with the EA band for 19 seasons and has taught for 26 years.
The closer of the show is going the distance is the final bell from the original movie.
Soloists from the show were Chris Cornelius (“Rocky” trombone), Brennen Runt (“Drago” trumpet), Kyra Thornton (“Mickey” flute), Joey Lipeski-Bock (alto saxophone), Duncan Stone (tenor saxophone), and MayLynn Strayhorn (tenor saxophone).
To reach the state championship, the East Allegheny Marching Band first won the Region 8 competition. It marked the band’s 10th championship in a row.
“We’ve done very well locally on that circuit. I just think we have good kids, and there’s a tradition here that goes back way before I was here. We’ve just tried to do our best to keep things going,” Rosco said.
And of the state title, he added, “It was a great run. It was very windy that day, but it was a great run and just a nice way to cap off the (marching band) season.”