Hillgrove Takes Top Honors at Southern Invitational

For a second weekend in a row, the members of the Hillgrove High School Marching Band came away from a competition with a coveted Grand Champion designation.

After a near-perfect clean sweep at Lassiter's Marching Band Showcase, it was the 30th Annual Southern Invitational Music Festival held Saturday, October 19th where students once again performed their show "Down on the Circle H" featuring music from famed American composer Aaron Copland. Hillgrove was one of seventeen bands participating in the competition portion of the festival.

Hillgrove won all Class AAAAA caption awards for Best Auxiliary, Percussion, and Drum Majors, along with 1st place in class. They then took the same awards for the Bronze/Open division, were recognized for highest scores for marching and music performance, and were awarded the Grand Champion trophy for the division.

The band also received the Dan Martin Award for Music Excellence, which represented the highest score for music excellence regardless of class, size or division.

The Southern Invitational Music Festival is held annually at Jim Frazier Stadium on the campus of Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Georgia through the volunteer efforts of the Sprayberry Band Booster Association and the Sprayberry Band of Gold.

The Hillgrove Marching Band will perform their show in competition for the final time of the season during the Bands of America Super Regional competition at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Their preliminary performance time is 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 26.