Stoughton High School Band Played Tom Brady's Best Buddies Game

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Last Friday, Stoughton High School's Band got the chance to perform for a good cause, and meet Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman along the way. Tom Brady's annual Best Buddies Football Challenge game at Harvard Stadium featured Stoughton High School as its band, having them play between scores.

High School Band Teacher John Mange said the band was selected because the school recently started its own Best Buddies Chapter.

According to Best Buddies mission statement, "Best Buddies International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities."

Band member Rachel Weiner thought the experience was fun and said although she was at first nervous, she was happy to be a part of it.

Weiner said, "It was a really good experience. it was a little nerve-racking going on to the field and seeing everyone, but I think the whole game was a good time and everyone was having fun. We got to take a picture with Julian Edelman."

There was plenty of scoring, which meant the band was kept busy the entire evening. Mange said brass musicians, especially trumpet players often say it's easy to end up out of breath by the end of a performance. The Stoughton High School Band brought that breath test to new limits, playing after every single touchdown scored.

The game finished in a tie with both teams scoring 112 points. This means depending on if the touchdowns were worth six, seven or eight points, Stoughton High School's band played anywhere between 28 and 38 pieces of music.

Mange said the band would play Hail to the Victor's after those touchdowns. Hail to the Victors is the University of Michigan's fight song, which is where Tom Brady played his college football.

(video provided by Lisa Buckley)

Brendan Harrington, a drummer in the school band said, "They would score and we'd play it and by the time we finished playing it, they would already score." Then, the band would play the fight song again. Besides Hail to the Victors, Mange said the band ended up playing through their entire pep repertoire.

Being at a college stadium, Band President Izzy Solem said this was probably the largest event the band has played during her four years of high school. Solem and others band members said they'd like to continue to play stadiums as they join marching bands in college.

Solem has plans to attend UMass Amherst and be a part of their marching band. "Three out of my four siblings all went to UMass Amherst," said Solem. "Two of my siblings were also in the band and I plan to be in the band too. I'm really excited."

The Stoughton High School Band's next large event will be the high school graduation ceremony on Thursday.