Welcome to the Harvest Marching Band Festival!

Welcome to the
Harvest Band Festivals

Welcome to the Harvest Jazz Band Festival!
   Judges/Categories, Finalist Policy and Scoring Sheet for the 2013 Harvest Marching Band Festival on Saturday, October 19, 2013
Zaepfel Stadium are:

Auxiliary

John Fisher

Picture of John Fisher John Fisher has performed with several drum and bugle corps including the Westshoremen, 27th Lancers, and the Madison Scouts. He has been on staff with the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps in Casper, Wyoming and several bands and drum and bugle corps on the east coast. He is a member of the National Judges Association, the Northwest Pageantry Association and the Oregon Dance and Drill Coaches Association.

Drum Major

Melody Fisher

Picture of Melody Fisher Melody Fisher is currently the Development Coordinator for the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. She is also completing a Graduate Assistantship at Eastern Washington University. She received her Bachelor's in Music from Whitworth University, where she served for three years as principal bassoon of both the Wind Symphony and Orchestra. She is now a member of the Coeur d'Alene Symphony Orchestra. Melody holds a First Class certificate in the Corps style from the Smith-Wallbridge Drum Major Clinics. One of Yakima's own, she served as a Drum Major for A.C. Davis High School for three years.

Music Effect

Jeff Ray

Picture of Jeff Ray Jeff Ray is in his 25th year of public education, and is currently the director of the 350 member Olympic View Middle School Band from Mukilteo, WA. This group was won events all over the Pacific Northwest and California. They were also the first middle school in the United States to perform at a division one NCAA Bowl game, performing with Destiny's Child.

Prior to entering education Mr. Ray spent 25 years in drum and bugle corps as a member, instructor, and as a director. Groups Mr. Ray has been affiliated with include the Percussionaut Patriots, Renaissance, Freelancers, Imperials, Marauders, Argonauts, Spartans, and Cascades Corps.

Mr. Ray also keeps a very busy performance schedule as a lead trumpet player. He has backed artists from the Brecker Brothers to George Burns, played for cruise lines, and currently plays for various Latin and Rock groups in the Seattle area.


Music Performance Ensemble

Jim Johnson

Picture of Jim Johnson Jim Johnson is the former director of the Cascade High School Bands, in Everett, WA, and has been teaching band in the public schools for the past 44 years in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Australia. His concert, jazz and marching bands at Cascade traveled extensively throughout the U.S and toured Australia, England, Mexico, and Russia. The concert bands consistently earned Superior ratings in festivals and contests. The marching bands at Cascade, competing in the Open Category, have won every marching band contest, in which they have competed, in the Pacific Northwest at least once and earned dozens of caption awards.

Mr. Johnson was the director for the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps for several years, taught jazz band at Treasure Valley Community College, performed with the Columbia Basin Community Band, performed with the Tri-Cities Symphony, performed in numerous brass ensembles, and has directed several community musicals. He has adjudicated in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado in both marching band and concert band contests and festivals. Mr. Johnson retired this past year after his 44 years of teaching and will be traveling with his wife between their home in Marysville and Maricopa, AZ.   He will be judging marching band, color guard, concert band contests and will do clinics with middle and high school bands.


Music Performance Individual

Eric Smedsrud

Picture of Eric Smedsrud Eric Smedsrud is 38 years old and in his 14th year teaching high school band, ninth year of instruction at Mountain View High School. The Mountain View Band program is home to over 300 student musicians (20% of the student body)- three concert bands, two jazz bands, two string orchestras and percussion ensemble.
Prior to his employment in the Evergreen School District, Mr. Smedsrud taught five years in the Richland School District at Hanford High School. Mr. Smedsrud received his undergraduate degree in 1998 from the University of Idaho, and Masters Degree in trumpet performance from Washington State University in 2000 and earned his National Board Certification in 2008.
In addition to his work in the public schools, Mr. Smedsrud is an active musician and clinician. Mr. Smedsrud is married to his wife of nineteen years Kindergarten teacher in the Evergreen School District. They have two boys, fifteen-year old son Jake and eight-year old son James.

Percussion

Ron Crenshaw

Picture of Ron Crenshaw Ron Crenshaw is currently the Instrumental Director at Rogers High School and the Director of the Rogers High School Steel Drum Ensemble in Spokane, Washington. Mr. Crenshaw has received his Bachelors in Music Education from Eastern Washington University and his Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction.

In addition, he was the Percussion Instructor for the Eastern Washington University Marching Band and the caption head for the Northwest Champion Ferris High School Drumline in Spokane, Washington from 1987 to 1998. In 1998 this ensemble was selected to perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California on New Years day. Mr. Crenshaw has performed with Windham Hill Recording artist Scott Cossu and Jazz artists, Michael Brecker, and Larry Coryell. He has 15 years of Drum Corps experience, both as a performer and Instructor and formerly the Percussion Caption Head and Corps Director for the newly formed Spokane Thunder Drum and Bugle Corps. He is the founder of the Inland Northwest Marching Percussion Camps and is a Percussion adjudicator in the Northwest and Canada.

Presently, Mr. Crenshaw is a featured clinician for Yamaha Sound of Summer Percussion Camp, published Marching Percussion Arranger for Matrix Publishing, Educator endorsee for Pro-Mark and Remo as well as a Marching Percussion Clinician for the Yamaha Corp. of America.


Visual Effect

Brian Bailie

Picture of Brian Bailie Brian has been involved with Marching Band and pageantry since he was twelve years old. Brian started his marching career with the Blackwatch Drum and Bugle Corp out of Auburn Washington in the early 80's. Next he marched Marauders then aged out with the Santa Clara Vanguard. After aging out Brian began teaching with local high schools and drum and bugle corps. After several years of teaching drill Brian began to write shows. For the last eight years Brian has been judging. Starting with winter guard and moving into marching band. Brian lives in Bonney Lake Washington with his wife and two children.

Visual Performance Ensemble

Mitch DeGrace

Picture of Mitch DeGrace After a career in the food industry and two seasons on an Alaskan commercial fishing vessel. Mr DeGrace returned to school to pursue his aspirations of becoming a musician, composer and teacher. He earned a Bachelor's of Music in composition from Western Washington University in 2004 and a Masters in Teaching in 2009.

Mr. DeGrace has taught and performed in the marching arts since 1985. He performed four years as a brass player with the marching band at Tahoma Senior High School from Maple Valley, one year with the Imperials Youth Band, from Renton, and four years with the Marauders Drum and Bugle Corps from Longview.. After aging out of drum corps in the summer of 1992, Mitch joined the Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps as a visual instructor where he was on staff until 1998. His final year with the Cascades he held the position of Tour Director where he was responsible for planning and executing all aspects of a full drum corps tour.

Mitch has been working with the Cascade High School Band since the fall of 1993. In this time, he has been a visual instructor, visual designer, music arranger, program coordinator and assistant director. He has also written drill and consulted for Eisenhower and AC Davis High Schools from Yakima, Washington, Shelton High School and Tahoma High School. In addition, he has also worked as an adaptation specialist for Marching Show Concepts of Sarasota, Florida.   Mr. DeGrace is also the director of chior and band at Meridian High School just north of Bellingham where his program has grown 60% in the last 2 years and his music department currently serves 30% of the high school population.


Mr. DeGrace is very pleased to rejoin the judges community at the 2013 Harvest Band Festival!


Visual Performance Individual

Jarid Norman

Picture of Jarid Norman Jarid is currently in his 10th year teaching band and his third year as director of bands at Lynden Middle School in Lynden, WA. Prior to teaching in Lynden, Jarid taught at Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, CO and at the American Community School of Athens, Athens, Greece. Jarid is a graduate of Western Washington University where he earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music degree.

While in college, Jarid participated in Drum Corps International, having marched with some of the top drum and bugle corps in the world, including the Madison Scouts from Madison, WI. Jarid has served on the staff of the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps from Casper, WY while also assisting various high school marching bands with their visual programs. Jarid continues to design field shows for high schools in the Western U.S.

Jarid remains an active musician today, playing trombone in the Whatcom Wind Ensemble as well as the Boundary Bay Brass Quintet.


The Harvest Marching Band Festival is organized primarily under the rules of the Western Band Association.

Finalist Policy

Twelve bands from Preliminary Competition will be selected to participate in Finals Competition in the following manner:
  1. The top two bands from each division (A, AA, AAA-S and AAA-L) with more than three bands will be selected. If a division has one, two or three bands then the division winner in Preliminary Competition will perform in finals. Bands performing in the Novice division are not eligible for Finals.
  2. The remaining positions are filled by bands from any division in Preliminary Score order.
  3. Bands perform in Preliminary Score order
  4. Caption Awards (Best Marching, Auxiliary, etc.) are awarded to the highest scoring band in Preliminary Competition


Welcome to the Harvest Marching Band Festival Saturday, October 19, 2013
Zaepfel Stadium

Preliminary/Finals Competition
Sample Score Sheet

Sample High School - 12:00 PM Exhibition  
Music Performance - Ensemble 300 Possible Points 157
Music Performance - Individual 300 Possible Points 154
Percussion: 100 Possible Points 50
Music Performance - Average: 350 Possible Points 185.5
Visual Performance - Ensemble 200 Possible Points 110
Visual Performance - Individual 200 Possible Points 110
Auxiliary: 100 Possible Points 80
Visual Performance - Average: 250 Possible Points 150
Musical Effect 200 Possible Points 120
Visual Effect 200 Possible Points 130
Effect Average: 400 Possible Points 250

Independent Category
Drum Major 100 Possible Points 75.5

Final Score:
(Total x 0.1)
100 Possible Points
58.55