The year got off to a great start with a fantastic June mini-camp, and picked up right where it left off at the full camp in August.  The band made amazing progress over the week, and learned all of the marching show escept for 6 charts at the end.  The freshmen were marching exceptionally well by the end of camp, and the 2002 program titled "The Wheel of Fate: Five Sketches on the Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff and arranged by Mr. Pilato seemed to be a solid and crowd-pleasing show.

    On the first day of school, it became apparent just how much the Orchestra had grown when the rehearsal room seemed too small.  Over the course of the last two years, the Orchestra has grown from 32 to 58.  Our goal is to have 70+ string players at Taravella by next year, prompting a split into two separate Orchestra classes.  The Orchestra held its now-annual picnic and everyone had a great time.  The Band Program also grew by a few members, becoming the largest program in several years at Taravella, and the Jazz Ensemble also grew by a few players, prompting speculation that we may once again return to two jazz ensembles next year.

    In September, the Band program was invited to perform on the NBC Today show with Al Roker.  This performance went out on national television, and the kids displayed the utmost in professionalism and musicianship, making many new fans and making their parents and directors proud.  Later that week, the JPT Band entertained and hosted the kids of the Key West High School Band program after they traveled up to Coral Springs to play against Taravella in football.  A great time was had by all.

    On October 19th the Band traveled to Vero Beach for the annual Crown Jewel Marching Competition.  With two fantastic performances out of the kids during Prelims and Finals, the Trojan Band achieved one of its goals this season: Grand Champions for the first time since 1996.  The winning score was 88.4, out-distancing two fantastic band programs, Buchholz and Sebastian River, by mere tenths in a very close competition.  JPT has won the Vero Beach Competition 4 times (1994, 1995, 1996, and 2002).   Two weeks later at FBA,  the JPT Marching Trojans put on the performance of a lifetime, prompting all of the judges to comment favorably, and winning many new fans.  At the Santaluces Marching Chiefs Invitational one week later, the JPT Band -despite its once-a-week rehearsal policy- placed 4th and won even more fans for the program, many of whom thought that Taravella had walked away with the crowd championship.

    Toward the end of November, the JPT Band & Orchestra received a surprise: The All-State lists came out, and Taravella had a total of 21 students selected, 16 from the Band, 5 from the Orchestra.  Both totals were new records for JPT.  The totals were more than every other county school COMBINED, and placed JPT 3rd in the state for the number of students placed.  Hats off to the wonderful members of the JPT Band & Orchestra for their hard work and dedication to excellence.

    In December, members of the JPT Band were invited back to NBC to kick off their televised special "Light Up the Holidays," showing the high regard that the J.P. Taravella Band is held in.  Also in December, JPT welcomed a new principal, Mr. Shawn Cerra, in style, at the 2002 Winter Prism Concert.  The Prism Concert, modeled after FSU's Prism Concert held every year at the Tri-State Festival, featured 29 different musical acts without pause in a 2 1/2 hour concert.  The concert went wonderfully, thanks to the dedication and creativity of the JPT students.

    In March, District Assessments were held at JPT, and both the Wind Orchestra and the Wind Symphony received Straight Superiors, the only school in Broward to have two bands qualify for State Festival.  In addition, the Symphonic Band received a Superior in sightreading, and an Excellent rating overall, better than most "first" bands in this county.  The JPT Orchestra also received Superiors at the District Assessment for the 3rd year in a row.

    In April, we traveled to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where the JPT Band & Orchestra competed in the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge Music Festival, where we swept every single category entered: Best Wind Ensemble, Best Symphonic Band, Best String Orchestra, Best Symphony Orchestra, and Best Jazz Ensemble.  Then we got stuck in Georgia for 24 hours...lucky thing we had all those trophies to keep us company.  Upon our return to Florida, we were delighted to learn that we had been awarded a Grammy Signature Schools Award, due to our commitment to music education.

    As if this wasn't good enough, in April, J.P. Taravella became the first Broward County school to take two bands to State Assessment (the Wind Orchestra and Wind Symphony) and receive Straight Superiors with both groups.  A heartfelt congratulations to all members of the 2002-2003 JPT Band & Orchestra Program.  This year was one of the most successful years in school history, and we look to keep the tradition alive.  Thank you so very much to the wonderful Senior Class of 2003, the catalysts and architects of this wonderful year.  We will miss you terribly.