On Nov. 13, 2016, Northampton Area High School’s Big “N” Band became a champion for the second year in a row of the Cavalcade of Bands Association (CBA) American A Class Championships. The CBA competition is a major annual event, which presents competitive performances featuring marching bands, indoor guard, dance and percussion arrangements.

The Big “N” Band, led by band director James Sansone, received special awards for High Music, High Visual and High Overall Effect and received a score of 93.05, which is now the highest score in the high school band’s history - topping last year’s score of 92.150.

The participating bands in the competition, which took place at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, are placed into one of five classes, based on the size of the band and then judged accordingly within that class. The Big “N” Band, consisting of 54 members, received four plaques and another Cavalcade of Bands Gold Medalist Patch to commemorate their win.

Band members rehearsed nine hours a week from the last week of August through the second week of November, and during the week of the championships, they practiced 12 hours in preparation for the big event. Their show, originally written by Dr. Andrew Yozviak of West Chester University, was titled “Siren’s Song,” and it featured a violin soloist as an addition to their normal instrumentation.

“It feels great to be a two-time champion. It’s really great for the kids because they’ve devoted so much to the program over the last few years, so the fact that they’ve been able to experience the reward is really cool! We thought that this year would be successful; we just didn’t know that it would end up being more successful than last year,” Sansone said.

In 2015, Sansone led his band to victory with their show “Into the Cosmos,” which featured wind arrangements by Tim Carpency, a Northampton High School graduate and assistant band director. Carpency again was responsible for the wind arrangements in their 2016 win, and Rick Wolfel arranged the percussions.

In 2015, Sansone happened to overhear an audience member say, “some school from Northampton won,” and so he went into the awards ceremony with some idea they might be the big winners. But this time, he was pleasantly surprised to learn of his two-time win just as everyone else was.

“[For] this year’s competition, I had no idea we won until the very end of the awards ceremony, and it was exciting to experience the anticipation and the students’ reactions during the announcements,” Sansone said.

Sometimes it takes a village, and Sansone mentioned many played a role in helping to see the Big “N” Band to victory. Sansone thanked writer Yozviak, Ian Flint for designing the drill, Wolfel and Carpency for their musical arrangements, Jason Steigerwalt for offering logistic support and assistance with the sound system, Connor Barz, an NHS graduate and NAMS band director who planned the visual program, and TJ Pearn, another graduate who wrote the color guard and recommended the music.

Additionally, Northampton Area Band Parent Organization provided support, meals and fundraising efforts all season in preparation for the events, and the school district administration provided facilities, transportation and encouragement, as well as the finances to achieve their goals.

Sansone especially credited Big “N” Band’s continued success largely because of the band itself.

“The students always give their best day in and day out. They constantly dedicate their time to excel in band, and I’m so thankful I get to work with them every day,” Sansone said.

Sansone felt this whole experience and his students have taught him a lot of things but mostly about accepting that some things don’t always come with a plan.

“Sometimes you have to go with the flow. Planning and preparation is crucial to success, but sometimes things happen that you cannot control. So go with the flow and focus on solutions instead of the problems.

“Our next goals are to keep pushing the envelope of design and performance. We really try to top the previous year, so it will be a good challenge for us next time,” Sansone said.

Big “N” Band will head to Williamsburg, Va., in April to compete in a few band competitions with Festivals of Music.