The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association (PIMBA) is a nonprofit organization that provides competitive adjudications for high school marching bands in southwestern Pennsylvania. Founded in 1996 (replacing the now-defunct PFCJ marching band circuit), PIMBA coordinates with local high schools to host band competitions throughout the fall, culminating in the PIMBA Championships.
Background PIMBA events provide both healthy competition and constructive feedback for performing bands. Directors pay membership dues in order for their ensemble to be classified as a member of the circuit. Classifications are broken down by the number of performing students in an ensemble. The current classifications are as follows:
Class A: 1–54 members Class AA: 55– 74 members Class AAA: 75–99 members Class AAAA: 100+ members
Directors may also choose to have their ensemble perform in judged exhibition or Festival Class. These bands will not be placed but will still receive judges' commentary and an individual score. From 1997 to 2012, PIMBA also featured a National Class– qualifications for this class included placing in the top five at BOA Regional competitions for two consecutive years or by special request of the director. The final competition to take place for each season is the PIMBA Championships. At the championships, bands receive final scoring in their respective classes with the top scoring band from each class being crowned a PIMBA Class Champion. The championships has historically been held at the following locations:
Elizabeth Forward High School– 3 times (2003, 2005, 2007) Gateway High School– 8 times (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2024) Moon Area High School– 3 times (2016, 2018, and 2023) North Allegheny Senior High School– 1 time (1996) Norwin High School– 5 times (2000, 2002, 2006, 2011, and 2022) Penn-Trafford High School– 6 times (1999, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2012, and 2014) South Park High School– 1 time (1998)
Scoring is based upon the same system used by Bands of America, featuring a Musical Performance category (worth 20 points), a Visual Performance category (worth 20 points), and a General Effect category (worth 60 points). Unlike BOA, the raw total from these three categories is divided by two and raised by 50 to establish an ensemble's final score.
PIMBA Championship Results: 1996-2025 Throughout PIMBA's history, there have been 28 Championship competitions. Several historical caveats should be noted:
1996: AAAA was referred to as Open Class 1997-2012: National Class was introduced and lasted for 15 seasons 1999: No Class AAA, AAAA, or National Class Champions (Field Washout) 2019: No Class AAA or AAAA Champions (Weather Cancellation) 2020: No PIMBA Festivals or Championships (COVID-19)
Below is a historical catalogue of each class champion band, including their respective scores and show titles if known. Next to the name of the champion in parentheses is the # of times that band has been crowned a class champion. Additional Note: the current scoring system for PIMBA was introduced in the 2004 season with revisions also being made for the 2013 and 2018 seasons, respectively. +Champion by Year and Classification Class A Class AA Class AAA Class AAAA National Class 1996 North Catholic(1) Mars Area(1) The Beatles
87.10 East Allegheny(1) Kiski Area(1) The Music of Gershwin 1997 Serra Catholic(1) Beaver Area(1) Damn Yankees Gateway(1) Slavonic Dances West Allegheny(1) Norwin(1) Hollywood Classics 1998 No Participants in Class Mars Area(2) The Music of Buddy Rich
87.70 Gateway(2) Emotions of the Soul
92.45 McKeesport(1) Earth, Wind, and Fire
89.40 Norwin(2) Kozhevnikov's "Symphony #3"
96.60 1999 South Park(1) Mars Area(3) Swingin' into the Next Millennium Cancelled: No Champion 2000 South Park(2) Mars Area(4) Lucy's Back with an Attitude
86.00 West Allegheny(2) Jesus Christ Superstar Gateway(3) The Odyssey Norwin(3) Reflections of Earth 2001 Beaver Area(2) Les Misérables
81.75 Southmoreland(1) The Jackson Five
87.90 Deer Lakes(1) Fiddler on the Roof
89.80 Trinity(1) 92.85 Norwin(4) Knights of Honour
94.95 2002 Beaver Area(3) 82.70 Elizabeth Forward(1) Pianoforte
81.60 Mars Area(5) City of Angels
91.15 Trinity(2) 88.65 Kiski Area(2) Route 66: Enjoy the Ride
96.15 2003 Cochranton(1) 82.35 East Allegheny(2) The Music of Gershwin
81.20 Mars Area(6) Going Slightly Insane
91.00 Trinity(3) The Music of Chase
88.35 Kiski Area(3) Head, Hands, and Feet
95.80 2004 Quaker Valley(1) Cirque du Soleil
84.83 Blackhawk(1) 90.03 Gateway(4) Locomotion
92.50 Trinity(4) Once Upon A Time
90.03 Norwin(5) Fiesta!
96.48 2005 Beaver Area(4) 83.30 Fox Chapel(1) 89.13 Gateway(5) Reflections
91.68 Trinity(5) Wicked
89.95 Norwin(6) Grooves in Motion
94.35 2006 Deer Lakes(2) Cirque du Soleil
83.53 Fox Chapel(2) Paint Me a Picture
86.65 West Allegheny(3) Black, White, and Red All Over
88.23 Trinity(6) 89.43 Kiski Area(4) Viva Las Vegas
94.63 2007 Beaver Area(5) 82.88 Blackhawk(2) Sesame Street
89.10 Gateway(6) From the New World
90.98 Trinity(7) 90.58 Kiski Area(5) The Rhythm of Life
94.45 2008 Fox Chapel(3) Out of the Box
85.65 Mars Area(7) Songs of the Beatles
87.80 Trinity(8) Cloudburst
90.30 Gateway(7) Canon
92.20 Kiski Area(6) Click
95.45 2009 Cochranton(2) Clockworks
86.40 Mars Area(8) Blood, Sweat, and Tears
86.45 Trinity(9) Frequency
85.33 Gateway(8) Winter Sketches
88.83 Kiski Area(7) Pursuit
94.55 2010 Fox Chapel(4) Rebound
84.83 Blackhawk(3) This is Halloween
86.48 Mars Area(9) The Music of Kansas
86.15 Moon Area(1) Renaissance
88.80 Kiski Area(8) Imaginarium
93.35 2011 Deer Lakes(3) Rivers
79.53 Blackhawk(4) The Wicked Wiz of Oz
86.35 Trinity(10) Kaleidoscope
85.63 Moon Area(2) To the Top
89.58 Norwin(7) Salvation
93.30 2012 East Allegheny(3) Only the Good Die Young
77.78 McGuffey(1) New Orleans Sketches
80.18 West Allegheny(4) Brazil
83.43 Gateway(9) Beyond the Forest's Edge
87.68 Norwin(8) The Road to You
93.20 2013 Blackhawk(5) Les Misérables
83.73 Mars Area(10) A Night in the City
86.73 Gateway(10) It Just Ain't Right
90.00 Norwin(9) The Rise of the Knight
93.60 2014 Blackhawk(6) Mirage
80.85 Mars Area(11) Phantom of the Opera
86.00 Gateway(11) Flashback
88.78 Norwin(10) When Worlds Collide
92.80 2015 Blackhawk(7) Through the Window
78.23 Deer Lakes(4) The Hero in Us All
80.73 Gateway(12) Egyptian Impressions
86.88 Kiski Area(9) Origins
90.98 2016http://pimba.org/pimba/site/main/scores2.asp?y=2016 Leechburg(1) The Drake Equation
77.75 Deer Lakes(5) MI-6: The 007 Archives
80.48 Gateway(13) Puppet Master
84.75 Norwin(11) Con4mity
89.78 2017 Leechburg(2) Connected
80.13 Southmoreland(2) I am...
83.83 Mars Area(12) Beethoven: Artistry in Motion
85.40 Norwin(12) RunAway
92.35 2018 Blackhawk(8) A Darkness Beckons
76.325 Deer Lakes(6) Stories from the West Side
80.710 Gateway(14) Enigma
86.710 Kiski Area(10) Out of the Blue
92.790 2019 Leechburg(3) 77.15 Fox Chapel Area(5) Conquest
81.075 Cancelled: No Champion 2021 Southmoreland(3) Through the Dark
81.400 Mars Area(13) Missing U
87.15 Moon Area(3) On the Edge
89.25 Kiski Area(11) Beneath the Shifting Sands
93.052022Southmoreland(4) Pieces of One
85.675Mars Area(14) A World up in Flames
89.675Moon Area(4) Look at the Stars
91.575Kiski Area(12) Corners of My Mind
94.902023Southmoreland(5) Rise and Shine
85.58Mars Area(15) Oh, What Tangled Webs We Weave
86.55Mt. Lebanon(1) Blackbird Set Free
90.68Kiski Area(13) Hidden Within
95.732024Deer Lakes(7) Shine Through
87.825Gateway(15) Breaking Darkness
86.175Mt. Lebanon(2) Ladies of the Eighties
88.35Kiski Area(14) On Gossamer Wings
94.402025Mars Area(16) Let It Be
83.10Fox Chapel Area(6) From the Ashes
86.375Moon Area(5) It Starts with a Spark
91.00Kiski Area(15) Strings Attached
94.35 The five winningest class champion bands include Mars Area High School (16 times; A/AA/AAA), Gateway High School (15 times; AA/AAA/AAAA), Kiski Area High School (15 times; AAAA/National), Norwin Senior High School (12 times; AAAA/National), and Trinity High School (10 times; AAA/AAAA). Kiski Area is the most winningest overall champion (regardless of class) with 15 titles.
References