Vote For Hillsborough In Rutgers’ Battle Of The Bands

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough Middle School band students need your vote as they are among the five finalists in Rutgers Battle of the Bands.

The public can vote once every 24 hours from now until May 17 in support of Hillsborough at Rubattleofthebands.com.

Hillsborough was selected as one of the finalists after they submitted a video performance of the Rutgers fight song "The Bells Must Ring" that shows off their musical abilities as well as their Rutgers spirit.

"Mrs. Ciji Coates and I thought it sounded like fun and knew that our students would enjoy being a part of the competition," said Hillsborough Band Director Nancy Ciacciarelli of the experience. "Obviously, we think that they are a very talented group of student musicians, but they are also very enthusiastic and outgoing! We knew that their video submission would be spirited and were confident that they would be contenders!"

"We handed out the music to the students and had them learn it on their own and then we put it together in rehearsals. The students were so excited about this competition and learned the piece quite quickly. We had a great time putting it together in rehearsal and when the day came to record, the students were super pumped! They came in the day before to decorate the room, we all made sure we were wearing our Rutgers red, and when it was time to say the chant in the song, all of us were super into it! Mrs. Ciacciarelli and I are so proud of the students for learning this challenging piece of music and having the passion,energy, and talent to put together a project like this!" Coates said.

If Hillsborough collects enough votes they will receive a VIP experience at a Rutgers home game with the chance to play on the field.

"If you want to start your day off right," said Hillsborough Middle School Principal Dr. Joseph Trybulski, "just listen to these kids play that Rutgers fight song and you’ll be energized to make it a great day!"

"Our teachers work tirelessly to find creative ways to expose our students to invigorating musical experiences. Getting onto a collegiate level field and playing for such a large audience will provide just that," Supervisor of Visual & Performing Arts, Chris Ireland, said.

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