The Kingston Tiger Marching Band, showing spirit, passion and effort, not only finished its 2021 season, but finished it well.

The band wrapped up their season with a seventh-place finish in the Large School 2 division at the New York State Field Band Championships on Oct. 31. This was the band's 16th year of NYSFB competition and marked its return to the championships after last year's cancelled season.

With the threat of COVID-19 still very real, the 2021 season was a “miracle just for having happened,” said Cyrus, a parent volunteer for the band.

"We are very pleased with the students' performance and are very proud of their hard work throughout the entire season,” said Jeffrey Giebelhaus, Tiger Marching Band co-director and lead teacher of Kingston High’s music department. There were plenty of hurdles with COVID-19, student quarantines and even horrible weather, he said.

But despite these setbacks, the band was able to persevere and finish off an amazing season, he said. "I never thought that the season would last long enough to make it to the state championships,” said Giebelhaus. “As the season progressed, I had in the back of my mind that this might be the last performance because of COVID. The students were great with following the COVID protocols with masks and social distancing. They made sure they were safe. And others were too. They didn't want to see the season end due to a COVID outbreak."

The band has a long legacy of success. It won the 2012 Large School 3rd Division Championship and came in second in 2019 in the same division as this year’s competition.

“After losing a season to COVID, we had probably our youngest band ever — about half the members were freshmen or sophomores and therefore had never been in a competition,” said Cyrus. “Many of them showed up to summer band camp not knowing how to march and/or playing new instruments.” But, Cyrus said, it looks like there’s plenty of hope for the future of the band as they were able to place very high in the championships even with so many new members.

As for the students, they said it was amazing enough just to be back at school and involved in extracurriculars, and the cherry on top for them was getting so far in the Field Band Championships.

“After over a year of online learning, it was so nice to return to the band community and find it alive and well. Watching the band members bond throughout the season was refreshing for me, and I can’t help but be reminded of how much I’ll miss the tight-knit chaos of marching band once I graduate,” said Senior Drum Major/Drum Major on Podium Amanda Machung.

“However, I can’t imagine a better way to have spent my final season,” Machung said. “Conducting the band and hearing things come together in real time was one of the most fulfilling parts of my high school career.”

With over 160 students, the Tiger Marching band is one of the largest scholastic marching bands in the state and is directed by Stephen Garner and Jeffrey Giebelhaus. The 2021 field show, “I Am A.I.,” featured the music of composers Jay Bocook, Vienna Teng and Frank Ticheli with visual design by Hernan del Aguila and Preston Coppage.

This year's staff also included Victoria Youlio, Jackie Garner, Jay Hogan, Daniel Dittus, Jesika Berry, Anthony Carl, Stephanie Sparks, Steve Murphy and Taylar Weber.