Area marching bands preparing for 2025 season

SHENANDOAH – Two weeks from Friday, fans will pack Veterans Memorial Stadium as the high school football season begins. At most games, before a down of football is played, fans will see and hear the product of dozens of scholastic musicians’ and performers’ hard work.

That work is well underway at Sentinel area schools, as our local marching bands work to put drill out on the field, so-to-speak, add music, and tell a story.

Band camp for Shenandoah Valley, Mahanoy Area, and North Schuylkill began last week while Hazleton Area started Monday, and the Sentinel stopped by each school Tuesday to preview this year’s marching band season.

Shenandoah Valley

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Fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium this season will see “one of the biggest bands Shenandoah Valley has had in a long time,” ninth-year director John Shoener told the Sentinel as his band practiced in the outfield at Marty DeLuca Memorial Field, the baseball field.

Fifty-two musicians will take the field along with 11 color guard and five honor guard, totaling 68 band members.

The Blue Devils don new uniforms for the first time since the 2016 season, keeping the black and blue color scheme introduced then, but with a more traditional flair.

“We’re excited to continue another year of the Blue Devil Band,” Shoener said. “We’re also excited for the continued influx of students coming into the band from our elementary band program, as well as new students that joined in the high school.”

This year’s field show is titled “Lights, Camera, Action,” featuring Blinding Lights, Gimme Some Lovin’ from the Blues Brothers, and Live and Let Die from James Bond.

“Our band staff and students continue to work hard to continue the great tradition of band,” Shoener said, noting that the band is approaching its centennial in 2027. “Camp has been going very well this year and I’m excited to present our show to the public.”

The first event for the Blue Devil Band will be the Schuylkill County Firemen’s Convention Parade in Frackville, hosted by the Englewood Fire Company.

Shoener says the band will be at every Shenandoah Valley football game this year,the Gratz Fair on Sept. 19, the Bloomsburg Fair on Sept. 25, Halloween parades in Saint Clair and Pine Grove, and North Schuylkill’s band competition on Oct. 4.

2025-26 Shenandoah Valley Band Officers

• President: Toby Gudinas;
• Vice President: Victoria Hernandez;
• Secretary: Ellie Miscannon;
• Treasurer: Valeria Hernandez;
• Equipment Managers: Victoria Nork, Jourdin Karvois, Cesar Estrada, and Breonna Zelinsky;
• Uniform Managers: Colin Neidlinger, Toby Gudinas, Clifton Williams, and Valeria Hernandez;
• Social Media Coordinators: Amber Lauffer and Joelle Karvois
• Librarians: Stephanie Brobst and Elayna Deleon;
• Drum Major: Jourdin Karvois;
• Asst. Drum Major: Breonna Zelinsky;
• Section Leaders
  • Flute: Ellie Miscannon, Stephanie Brobst, and Trista Karosas;
  • Clarinet: Josephine Kropp, and Guadalupe Gutierrez Zamudio;
  • Saxophone: Toby Gudinas, Valeria Hernandez, and Mareli Arias;
  • Trumpet: Victoria Hernandez, Amber Lauffer and Colin Neidlinger;
  • Tenor Sax/Low Brass: Breonna Zelinsky;
  • Percussion: Cesar Estrada and Victoria Nork;
  • Flag Captains: Emily Morales and Rachel Sekula.

Mahanoy Area

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Mahanoy Area’s marching band is spending early August refining their field show on the old Acme lot as they get ready to take it back across the Mahanoy Creek to Alumni Field.

Each day, Chelsea Ferraro, band director, said, was a theme day and Tuesday was “dress as your favorite musician” day. Some students wore shirts for their favorite artists, while a few dressed up as area band directors.

This year’s field show is titled “Slumber Party.” The songs — Dance The Night by Dua Lipa, Enter Sandman by Metallica, Dream On by Aerosmith, and ending with Wake Me Up by Avicii.

The songs, Ferraro says, follow the course of a sleepover through to the morning.

“I think the kids are having a good time with it,” Ferraro said. “We’re in pretty good shape for a preview show on August 20 with Meet the Bears. I think we’re going to have a good season.”

Ferraro said there are around 50 members of the band from grades 6-12.

Mahanoy Area, for the first time in recent memory, if ever, is hosting a band competition this year, she said.

“It’ll be new, it’ll be interesting, it’ll be fun,” she said.

2025-26 Mahanoy Area Staff and Officers

Director: Chelsea Ferraro
Bandfront Advisor: Evelyn Minarchick
Percussion Instructor: Tom Flamini

Drum Majors: Ben Bux and Sienna Napoli;
President: Alivia Sillers;
Vice President: Jake Miller;
Librarian: Dalila Miller and Ava Russel;
Equipment Manager: Ally Bet and Marcus Fisher.

North Schuylkill

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Early Tuesday afternoon, the North Schuylkill Band had split into sections, working inside away from the August heat.

Jacob Shoener, in his fifth year leading the Spartan Band, told the Sentinel this year’s show is “Neon Lights.”

“It’s sort-of set in the neon-soaked world of the 1980’s and it features the music of Journey,” he said. “There is a bit of a storyline arc to it, particularly with the competitive show, where the color guard plays a group of friends.”

He said the songs “Any Way You Want It,” “Separate Ways,” “Open Arms,” and “Don’t Stop Believin'” help tell the tale of tension between the friend group.

“We’re throwing it back this year with some old school music,” Shoener said. “I think the crowd will like it, the students really seem to be enjoying it, and I’m just having a blast working with them.”

The music program once again is hosting a Tournament of Bands competition on Oct. 4.

Another highlight this year will be the return of “Band-O-Rama” for the second year. That’ll be on Oct. 21 at 7pm at the high school gym.

“It’s sort-of like the season in review,” Shoener said. “The band will sit in concert formation and you’ll hear the national anthem, fight song, the show music from this year, and then I let the students pick their favorite couple stand tunes, pep tunes, and we play that as well.”

“It’s just a unique way to feature the marching band,” Shoener added.

This year’s band features 74 members between musicians and color guard.

“We’ve built up a nice program here and I’m just excited to work with the kids,” he said. “I have a great staff helping me.”

2025-26 North Schuylkill Band Staff and Officers

Drum Majors: Avery Kaminski and London White

Director: Jacob Shoener;
Assistant Director: Doug Cole;
Percussion Instructor: Derek Seiger;
Color Guard Instructor: Nevaida Rau;
Band Staff: Amy Lapointe and Samantha James;
Drill Design: Christopher Jay Evans.

Hazleton Area

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About eight miles north of center city Hazleton, the Hazleton Area Marching Cougars began band camp Monday at the Hazleton Area Arts and Humanities Academy in Drums.

Tuesday afternoon, they were out in the parking lot putting drill to music.

Director Mary Lichtenwalner told the Sentinel this year’s theme is “A Day of Play.”

“We’re exploring a bunch of different types of play,” she said. The first movement is akin to recess at a playground, moving into hide and seek, visualizing duck-duck-goose with the band, and wrapping up with “a lot of imagination, playing pretend with all of our friends.”

“It’s a really good opportunity for all of the kids to go and have fun, but still with a higher level of music than we’ve played in previous years, a lot of challenge there,” she said.

Music featured includes George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Cody Fry’s I Hear A Symphony, among others.

The band returns to the Tournament of Bands circuit this year with competitions at North Schuylkill, Mahanoy Area, Shamokin, as well as Region 2 Championships and Atlantic Coast Championships.

There are around 50 members this year, Lichtenwalner said.

“Still grew from last year, made up for all of our seniors plus some,” she said. “It’s still a very young group and a lot of them really want to learn.”

Meet The Cougars is returning this year, set for Friday at 5pm at Harman-Geist Stadium. There will be a parade from “The Castle,” Hazleton Elementary/Middle School, to the stadium.

“It’ll be a lot of fun to have all of the groups back together for that,” she said.

2025-26 Hazleton Area Band Staff and Officers

Staff

Director: Mary Lichtenwalner;
Assistant Director: Jude Stefánik;
Percussion: Nathan Dovman;
Brass Caption Head: Persephone Gilliland;
Color Guard: Felicity Deemer;
Media Coordinator: Rebecca Schell;
Consultants: Aaron Lichtenwalner and Chip Fox.

Officers

President: Callum Dormer;
Vice President: Camden Calarco;
Secretary Jareyvi Elich Santiago;
Historian: Jazlyn Espinal;
Drum Major: Callum Dormer;
Assistant Drum Major: Yuren Martinez;
Color Guard Captain: Ciarra Bracero and Jareyvi Elich Santiago;
Flute Section Leaders: Iris Culley and Giselle Pena;
Reed Section Leaders: Lydia Pernick and Isabella Collado;
High and Low Brass Section Leaders: Camden Calarco and Priscilla Olivo;
Percussion Section Leaders: Lily Morgan and Joseph Elena Lapaix.

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