Absegami High School Marching Braves Win State Championship

Congratulations to the Absegami High School Marching Braves on their first-place finish this Saturday at the US Bands New Jersey State Championships.

Absegami, under the direction of band director Patrick O'Keefe and his staff, won the Group II Open category, scoring a 91.200, and besting the state's top eight marching bands in their category from Delran, Allentown, Immaculata, Lenape Valley, Seneca, Mahwah, and West Essex Regional.

Absegami Advances to US Band National Finals at MetLife Stadium

The NJ State Championship was the next-to-last event of a long marching band season that began last April and continued through the summer with band camp and into the school year, with football game performances and band competitions around the state almost every weekend.

This weekend, the Marching Braves will compete in the national Open Class Championships at MetLife Stadium, where they will be paired up against marching bands from school bands from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Adjudicators judge every aspect of the field performance, including the bands' visual effect, colorguard performance, percussion, ensemble music, and music proficiency, a category Absegami won in the New Jersey State Championships.

The Absegami High School Marching Braves

Absegami Band Director Patrick O'Keefe said that half of the year's 51 marching band members, in grades 9 -12, were new to marching this year.

O'Keefe has been the Band Director at Absegami for eight years and previously worked as the Smithville Elementary School Music director for seven years, while assisting with the Shawnee High School Marching Band.

He has two of the Galloway Township Middle School music teachers on his marching band staff, and the efforts of many dedicated parents helping out.

Good luck to Absegami High School Marching Braves this weekend at The Meadowlands!