Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), founder Larry McCormick's goal was to provide educational opportunities for music students nationwide.
Marching Bands of America / Bands of America has conducted high school marching band contests including a national competition -- called the "Grand National" championship -- in every year since 1976 (except 2020, when all previously announced BOA competitions, including the Grand National Championship, originally scheduled for November 12-14, were cancelled in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
)[5] Since 1980, these events are conducted between September and November, culminating in the Grand Nationals, which have been held since 1989 in Indianapolis, Indiana and since 2008 specifically at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Since 1975, Bands of America's various programs, services and events have served approximately 1.75 million music students.
[6] The adjudication manual and contest procedures utilized by Bands of America have been licensed to or adopted by other organizations.
[3] The goal was to provide a unique education and performance opportunity for music students nationwide.
In 1976, Marching Bands of America hosted the first annual Summer Workshop and Festival on the campus of University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.
Included in the program was the first Grand National Championship, whose inaugural champions were Kosciusko (Mississippi) and Live Oak (California) high schools.
Bands of America became a subsidiary of Music For All, and its flagship program, with L. Scott McCormick becoming the combined organization's CEO.
Announcements place more emphasis on rankings between bands, such as advancing to the final round, versus a score.
Promotional materials and programs often include essays on education philosophy and pedagogy from prominent music educators which highlight the festival atmosphere of each championship event, as well as exploring concepts such as the pursuit of excellence, and individual growth and achievement through competition.
Spectators are encouraged to give each band participating in the final round a standing ovation.
[5] In 2003, the San Antonio Regional was relaunched as a Super Regional Championship, a two-day event which included a national caliber adjudication panel, a maximum of 84 bands, with the fourteen highest scoring bands advancing to a final round.
The Alamodome is also site of the annual Texas state marching championship hosted by the University Interscholastic League,[17] and Lucas Oil Stadium is also the site of the annual Indiana State School Music Association marching band championships.
There are no qualifications or prerequisites for participation; a standard established by Larry McCormick at the first Summer Workshop and Festival in 1976.
Dates for Grand Nationals have been announced up to 2028, with all events scheduled to take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, on the second weekend of November each year.
[21]: 2 Classes are used to determine preliminary placements and awards and are not announced to the judges or audience with the intention to not influence scoring.
Classes AA, AAA, and AAAA are realigned every three years based on data provided by participating bands.
It instead operates almost exclusively as an event promoter, producer, host, and music education advocacy organization.