The Youth in Music Band Championships is an annual high school

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

competition in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Minnesota. It is one of the largest marching band events in the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

, attracting two dozen competitors and thousands of spectators every year. The 16th Annual championships will be hosted on October 10, 2020, at

U.S. Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium is an enclosed stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Built on the former site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the indoor stadium opened in 2016 and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Footbal ...

. The first championship was held in 2005. Since 2006, state championship honors have been awarded to competing bands from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. The competition has been called the YIM Grand Championships and YIM Upper Midwest Championships. The competition and its awards are also known as the YIMMYs.

History

Past participants

Bands from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

have attended YIM since its inception. The following is an incomplete list of recent and past participating bands. Indicates a past participant.

Illinois bands

* South High School,

Downers Grove Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I-55. ...

Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 is a school district in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Created in 1951, the district serves the communities of New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena, Manhattan, and small portions of Tinley Park, Orland ...

Lincoln-Way Central High School Lincoln-Way Central High School, LWC, or Central is a public four-year high school about 3.5 miles south of Interstate 80 near the intersection of Schoolhouse Road and Lincoln Highway in New Lenox, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illin ...

New Lenox New Lenox is a village in central Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago and an eastern suburb of Joliet. The village population was 27,214 as of 2020. New Lenox has schools like Lincoln-Way West High School ...

Lincoln-Way East High School Lincoln-Way East High School or LWE, is a four-year public high school located approximately three miles south of Interstate 80 near the intersection of Colorado Avenue, U.S. Route 45 (La Grange Road) and U.S. Route 30 (Lincoln Highway) in Frankfo ...

, Frankfort

Iowa bands

* MOC-Floyd Valley High School, Orange City * Sioux City Community Schools **

North High School North High School may refer to: * North High School (Phoenix, Arizona) * North Pulaski High School, Jacksonville, Arkansas * North High School (Bakersfield, California) * John W. North High School, Riverside, California * North High School (Torranc ...

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

** West High School, Sioux City

Minnesota bands

South Dakota bands

Nebraska bands

Bellevue East High School Bellevue East High School is a four-year public secondary school in Bellevue, a suburb south of Omaha, Nebraska. It opened in 1962 as Bellevue High School and was renamed Bellevue East in 1977, following the opening of Bellevue West. It is part ...

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

Millard North High School Millard North High School is a high school in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Millard Public Schools district. Millard North partially opened in 1978 for 9th and 10th grade students. In 1981, the second phase of the project was co ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Millard West High School Millard West High School is a public high school located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It first opened its doors on August 17, 1995. Currently, Millard West High School is the third largest school within the Millard Public Schools district. I ...

Wisconsin bands

Past championship locations

Classification and adjudication

YIM utilizes the

Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association The Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association (MACBDA) was a governing body and summer high school marching band competition circuit based in the Upper Midwest. The circuit's competitive season traditionally began in June, and previously in ...

Adjudication Handbook. However, the competition is not affiliated with MACBDA. Tabulation software is provided b
Competition Suite

Classifications

Three classes, A, AA, AAA, have been available since 2005. In 2016, AAAA Class was added. Criteria for class alignment is unknown. However, an archived FAQ from 2007 suggested participating bands consider school attendance and the number of performing members when selecting a class.

Captions and rubric

Scoring is based on two broad categories: Performance, and Effect. The categories are further divided into four reference criteria or captions, with each given a maximum value of 200 points, or up to 20 points when factored. Percussion and Auxiliary (or

color guard In Military, military organizations, a colour guard (or color guard) is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of Colours, standards and guidons, regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is so prestigious that the militar ...

) captions are also available. Both given a maximum value of 100 points, or ten points when factored. The final score is tabulated by adding all captions, less any penalties. One adjudicator is assigned to each caption, and one each for percussion and auxiliary. An additional adjudicator is responsible for timing and penalties. YIM does not have captions for

drum majors A drum major or field commander is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or cor ...

, twirling teams and majorettes, or dance teams. Performance excellence by a drum major is recognized by the Effect or Performance adjudicators where appropriate. Twirlers and dance teams fall under the responsibility of the Auxiliary adjudicator. Almost all participating bands will perform with a color guard team.

Awards and honors

As of 2017, the top scoring band in each class, and the next six highest scoring bands from the first, preliminary, round advance to the final round. The two rounds are called Sessions I and II by competition organizers. Following the preliminary round, caption awards for "Outstanding Percussion", "Outstanding Winds", and "Outstanding Color Guard" which are given to recipients in each class.

YIMMY awards

Recognition is also given to "Best Drum Major" and "Best Performer" in response to their performance excellence. The "Spirit of YIMMY" award is given to one band each year in recognition for their

esprit de corps Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...

. The criteria for these awards is unknown. An award memorializing musician Butch DuFault is given to an outstanding band director. YIM has awarded academic scholarships to participating students in the past.

Minnesota State Marching Band Championships

YIM began awarding state championship honors in 2006. The format for such awards has varied. In 2017, honors were given to the top three highest scoring Minnesota bands in each class. A single state champion award has also been announced in years prior. The inclusion of a state championship award was likely due to other Minnesota music education organizations lack of sanctioned marching band events.

Minnesota State High School League The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) is a voluntary, non-profit association for the support and governance of interscholastic activities at high schools in Minnesota, United States. The association supports interscholastic athletics an ...

(MSHSL), the Minnesota NFHS affiliate, only organizes soloist and small ensemble festivals.

Minnesota Music Educators Association The Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) is the Minnesota state-level affiliate of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. MMEA is a 2000-member professional society for music educators Music is generally defined as ...

(MMEA), the Minnesota

NAfME The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States. Founded in 1907 as the Mus ...

affiliate, organizes an All-State honor band program which includes

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

and jazz bands. And the Minnesota Band Directors Association (MBDA) has only issued guidelines for marching band performances, in addition to organizing an alternative All-State concert and jazz honor band.

Past champions

YIM realigned the classes available in 2016. A Grand Champion award was not awarded in 2005.

Minnesota State Marching Band Champions

Below is an incomplete list of Minnesota State Marching Band Champions awarded at YIM:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Youth in Music Music organizations based in the United States High school marching bands from the United States Educational organizations based in the United States