The show will go on. The Huntington High School Blue Devil marching band is already looking ahead to the 2017 competitive season. It expects to once again challenge for the New York State Field Band Conference championship.
Band director Jessica Castaneda recently announced the group’s student leadership has been set for the coming campaign. Brian Stellato will be the band’s assistant director. An experienced staff that includes many Blue Devil marching band alumni will be returning for the fall season.
Katie Riley, Mardnie Mentor and Jamie Rosenbauer will serve as the Blue Devils’ drum majors. Adina Kirkland is set to be the field major.
The band’s student leadership also include flute section leaders Katharine Kitzen and Alyssa Befumo; clarinet section leaders Peter Ciccone and Mathew Hearl; alto sax section leader Nathan Gamboa; low reed section leader Meagan Malone; mello section leaders Adina Kirkland and Amelia Reilly; trumpet section leaders Aidan McCooey and Ryan Marques; low brass section leaders Kenny Fajardo and James Obermaier.
Aidan McCooey will serve as the brass captain with Meagan Malone as the woodwind captain. Arashdeep Singh will be the drum captain. Will Fallon and Nancy Glascock will lead the pit section. Sofia Martinez will be the color guard captain.
A graduate of Middletown High School in New York, Ms. Castaneda obtained an undergraduate degree in music education with a performance certificate in clarinet at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. She earned a master’s degree in clarinet performance at the University of Oklahoma, where she served as a graduate teaching assistant.
Ms. Castaneda joined the Huntington School District’s music department faculty in 2011. She currently teaches fourth grade band at Southdown and Jefferson primary schools and general classroom music at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School. Prior to becoming co-director of the Blue Devil marching band in 2015, she was the woodwind tech for four seasons.
