Stillwater Bands News

  EDMOND, Okla. –  For the second year in a row, the Stillwater Pioneer Marching Band and the Perkins-Tryon Midnight Regiment took home top honors for their respective classes at the Deer Creek Invitational.   The Pioneer Marching Band’s 2025 show, entitled, “Bach in the Saddle,” earned first place honors in Class AA during the afternoon’s preliminary competition when bands compete with each other based on the size of their high school.  The Midnight Regiment also earned top class honors, finishing first in Class A for their show, entitled, “Masters of the Keys.”   Both bands were selected as finalists at the competition, where the top twelve bands, regardless of school size, perform in the evening competition. In finals performance, Stillwater placed second overall and Perkins-Tryon placed sixth. The Midnight Regiment also earned Fan Favorite honors.  Edmond Santa Fe High School took home first place overall.   “Our band has a large number of undercl...

  STILLWATER, Okla. – Stillwater High School’s Performing Arts Department continues to be recognized as one of the best in Oklahoma, both on the stage and in the classroom.   The Band, Choir, and Orchestra programs recently demonstrated this, with all three being honored as Oklahoma State Academic Champions for 2025.   This is the eleventh year both Band and Orchestra have been honored as state champions, and the fourth time Choir has received this distinction. SHS Principal, Walter Howell, recently presented all three programs with their championship trophies.   “Our students prove every day that artistic excellence and academic success go hand in hand,” said Kevin Zamborsky, Director of Bands for Stillwater Public Schools. “Winning academic state championships in all three programs this year is a testament to the students’ hard work and the support of our dedicated faculty, our performing arts families, and the community.”   Research consistently ...

  STILLWATER, Okla.  – Featuring one of the largest marching bands in school history, the Stillwater High School Pioneer Marching Band is hard at work preparing for the 2025 marching season. Band Camp began on July 28 th  and the band will host a free community performance on Thursday, August 7 th  at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Stadium to officially kick off the marching season.   The Pioneer Marching Band is coming off a successful 2024 marching season earning bronze medal honors in Class 6A-2 and being named a state finalist at the Oklahoma Bandmasters State Championship. The band also earned State Academic Champions in Class 6A for the eleventh time in program history.   This year’s show, entitled, “Bach in the Saddle,” will feature the music of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as more recent western style music to complete the theme.   “We are excited to give the community and our supporters a first glimpse of our show at the community p...

  STILLWATER, Okla. – For the tenth time, and ninth straight year, Stillwater Public Schools has been named as a Best Community for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation. The NAMM Foundation is a philanthropic arm of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). It supports initiatives that promote and expand music-making opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. The award recognizes and celebrates the outstanding efforts of teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders who have made music education a priority as a part of a well-rounded education. Districts selected for this award have demonstrated a consistent and exceptionally high commitment to making music education accessible for all students. Stillwater is one of just four school districts in the state of Oklahoma to be honored, and the only district with such a long legacy of receiving the designation. Less than a thousand school districts in the United States achie...

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Stillwater High School Performing Arts Center is set to host the wind ensembles of both Stillwater High Sch ool and Oklahoma State University for a shared concert on Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00pm. The ensembles from each institution represent th e top band musicians at both SHS and OSU. “This concert is not only a wonderful opportunity for our students to perform alongside university-level musicians and experience what they could potentially encounter in music beyond high school, but also a chance for the community to come listen to outstanding music and see the talent of both the SHS and OSU Wind Ense mbles,” says Kevin Zamborsky, Director of Bands for Stillwater Public Schools. The concert is open to the public and free to attend. A livestream of the concert will also be produced by the SHS Technical Theatre program and available on the SHS Performing Arts Center YouTube page at www.stillwaterschools.com/PAClive . This will not be the first, or the la...

STILLWATER, Okla. – The growth in Stillwater High School’s color guard program, SCG, is evident as Winter Guard contest season reaches its halfway point. SCG Blue just completed its third competition of the season with their show “Break the Code,” highlighted by a Finals appearance at Winter Guard Internationals regional competition in Kansas City two weeks ago. In Finals, Blue placed 10 th out of 30 other color guards from around the region. Meanwhile, SCG Gold is coming off a first-place performance in the Scholastic Regional A at the Winter Guard and Percussion of Oklahoma contest held at Piedmont High School this past weekend. Gold’s show is entitled “Dandelion.” “I could not be prouder of the hard work both Blue and Gold have put into this season so far,” said SCG Director Darin Williams. “The growth and improvement from each rehearsal and competition has been a pleasure to watch.” Both Blue and Gold continue their seasons this weekend when they will perform at Winter Gu...