Westfield High School Blue Devils Marching Band
Submitted by Marcy Lechner
Under the leadership of Band Directors Chris Vitale and Trevor Sindorf the 129 member Westfield High School Blue Devils Marching Band’s 2019 Production is ‘The Light,’ with music by American 20th century composer, Samuel Barber. At the opening, the mood of the performance is set with the somber reading of a few lines from Dylan Thomas’ poem ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.’ Then through music and choreography the band interprets the dramatic reflection of the overall theme which is to ‘live boldly’. Mr. Vitale shares, “Our show this year centers around a famous literary work by Dylan Thomas as well as music by one of America’s most well known composers in Samuel Barber. The line “rage against the dying of the light” is one that recurs throughout our production and is used to convey having a strong desire to live life to the fullest until our last breath. We’re excited to have a show this year that exposes our students to meaningful literary and musical works of art and are excited to continue to share our interpretation of those works with our audiences throughout the fall.”
The band is led by drum majors Christian Sawina, Theresa Lizzo and Robbie Strauss. Earlier in the season the band won 3rd place in their class (AAA) and 7th overall at the Bands of America (BOA) Mid Atlantic Regional Competition held at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland on October 5, 2019, performing against 25 other bands. This is the 2nd year in a row that Westfield has been named a Finalist in this competition, which is among the largest and most competitive in the North East. The Blue Devils also placed 1st in class AAAA and was named Grand Champion at the Scotch Plains competition in September.
