Heart of Georgia
Invitational

Philosophy

The Heart of Georgia Marching Band Invitational embraces the ideals of the highest standards of performance and creativity in music and visual design in the marching band activity.  It is an opportunity for band members to perform for an appreciative crowd and to be appropriately rewarded for their excellence, hard work and dedication to this activity.  It is also an opportunity for these same students to see, hear and appreciate the work of other band students whose performances may expose these young musicians to a wide variety of music and visual concepts.

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Order of Performance

In order to provide a quality competition the performance field shall be limited to 25 performances.  These groups will be admitted on a first-come first-served basis.  Bands will be scheduled within the appropriate classifications based on the number of WIND players in the group.  Bands are allowed to enter above their classification, but not below.  Bands will be scheduled in order of postmarked dates on the applications that arrive with the performance bonds and entrance fees.  The earlier postmarks will perform later in the class.  ALL applications MUST be accompanied by the appropriate fees and include the signature of the school principal.  Performance order within class will be in reverse order of application receipt.

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Bands will be allowed a total of 15 minutes of field time (including entrance, performance and exit).  Penalties of 0.1 points for every 15 seconds will be assessed to contest bands exceeding their allotted time.  An additional penalty of 0.5 points for every minute will be assessed for delay of performance.  Disturbances in warm-up will have a penalty of 5 points.

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Units Judged

Band, Drum Major(s), Color Guard, Percussion, Majorettes, Dance Line / Drill Team.  * Majorette teams consisting of less than 3 will not be eligible for contest rankings.

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Adjudication

The Heart of Georgia Marching Band Invitational will strive to provide the best possible evaluation of each performing ensemble by utilizing CAPTION JUDGING for bands participating in the contest. There will be 2 adjudicators each for Visual Performance and Musical Performance, and 1 adjudicator each for Music Effect and Visual Effect.

 

The other areas of judging will have 1 adjudicator each for Drum Major(s), Color Guard, Percussion and Majorettes/Dance Line.

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Awards and Trophies

Contest Format: All bands and their respective units will receive a division rating based upon the following scale:

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I – Superior: 85-100

II – Excellent: 70-84.9

III – Good: 55-69.9

IV – Fair: 54.9 & Below

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Ratings Awards: All bands and auxiliary units will receive trophies for Superior and Excellent rated performances in both the Festival and Contest.

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Contest Class Awards: Band – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Percussion – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Majorettes (3 minimum) – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Dance Line/Drill Team – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Color Guard – 1sts, 2nd & 3rd ; Drum Major(s) – 1st, 2nd, 3rd .

 

Best In Contest Awards (Regardless of Class): Visual – 1st place; Overall Effect – 1st; Music – 1st; Percussion – 1st, 2nd and 3rd; Drum Major(s) – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Majorettes (3 minimum) – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Dance Line/Drill Team – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Color Guard – 1st, 2nd & 3rd; Band – 1st & 2nd Runner up and Grand Champions.

 

Grand Champion: The Heart of Georgia Marching Band Invitational GRAND CHAMPION trophy will be awarded to the band with the highest score (not including auxiliary scores) regardless of classification and each band member will receive a Grand Champion medallion.