FZN River City Showcase

The Fort Zumwalt North Panther Pride Band is proud to present the 13th Annual FZN River City Showcase! This event promises to be one of the true highlights of the marching season and is ideal for bands that will be competing at the Bands of America Super Regional in St. Louis. Bands will be classified by natural breaks in school size. During the prelim round bands will be mixed, with the performance order determined by a lottery for all bands entered by April 1, 2025. All other bands entered after April 1 will be placed in the competition based on order of entry. The top 12 highest scoring bands will advance to finals competition. Bands will compete for caption awards (Outstanding Music, Visual, General Effect) and placement awards. Featuring an All-Star adjudication team from the rosters of Bands of America, Drum Corps International, and Winter Guard International, this festival will also hold a judges critique between prelims and finals for interested band directors. All judges will be from outside the state of Missouri.

Past Champions:
2024 - O'Fallon Township
2023 - Camdenton
2022 - O'Fallon Township
2021 - Timberland
2020 - Cancelled (COVID)
2019 - O'Fallon Township
2018 - Oakville
2017 - Rockwood Summit
2016 - Blue Springs South
2015 - Fort Zumwalt South
2014 - Rockwood Summit
2013 - O'Fallon Township
2012 - Rockwood Summit

2025 FZN River City Showcase Schedule
PRELIMS
11:00 Belleville East
11:15 Parkway South
11:30 Helias
11:45 Rock Bridge
12:00 Hickman
12:15 Fort Zumwalt West
12:30 Hillsboro
12:45 BREAK
1:00 Parkway West
1:15 Marquette
1:30 Oakville
1:45 Francis Howell Central
2:00 Fox
2:15 Summit
2:30 Lindbergh
2:45 FZN - Exhibition
3:00 AWARDS

FINALS
6:15 Band 1
6:30 Band 2
6:45 Band 3
7:00 Band 4
7:15 Band 5
7:30 Band 6
7:45 BREAK
8:00 Band 7
8:15 Band 8
8:30 Band 9
8:45 Band 10
9:00 Band 11
9:15 Band 12
9:30 AWARDS

Schedule Source: Patrick Stewart

Adjudicator Panel

MUSIC:
John Morse - Greenwood, IN: Four-time Indiana Class B state champion as the head band director at Greenwood. Multiple finals appearances and class championships at BOA regionals and super regionals since 2008.

Kenneth Capshaw - El Paso, TX: Currently a lecturer in the Department of Music at The University of Texas at El Paso, teaching jazz ensembles and brass methods. He has been involved in music education in the El Paso community for over fifty years and was a band director in the El Paso ISD for twenty-five years. His concert, jazz, and marching ensembles were consistent sweepstakes winners. The Coronado High School Band under his direction received the Texas Bandmasters Exemplary High School Band Award in 2012.He has been a member of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra for forty-seven years and has been a guest soloist, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the country for many years. Mr. Capshaw is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, The Texas Bandmasters Association, The Texas Adjudicators Association, and Phi Beta Mu. He received the Band World Legion of Honor Award in 2010 and The Texas Bandmasters Meritorious Achievement Award in 2011. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Mu Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame in 2013, and was elected for membership into the American Bandmasters Association in 2016. He was selected as the Texas Bandmasters Band Master of the Year in 2018.

Louie Periera - Cape Girardeau, MO: Louie Pereira is a versatile musician and educator from South Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the School of Music at Texas State University in 2016 and later earned his Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in 2022. Outside of academia, Louie has been an active performer with the Los Angeles-based BLOW! Brass Band (@blow.brass), appearing at major events such as ChainFest, EEEEEATSCON, NAMM, Anime Expo, Comic-Con San Diego, D23 Expo, and the 2024 Official Flavortown Super Bowl Tailgate. In addition to his performing career, Louie is a dedicated educator. He served as a Teaching Artist with the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra (@sjomusic) in the Los Angeles Unified School District and was on the percussion staff at Etiwanda High School. From 2021 to 2023, he also worked with the acclaimed WGI ensembles Pulse Percussion and POW Percussion. He is currently the Instructor of Jazz, Commercial, and Marching Percussion at Southeast Missouri State University.

VISUAL:
Eric Sabach - Spring, TX: Adjudication background includes DCI, BOA, and WGI. A designer/clinician across the United States with many state and national finalists and championships. Has instructed and performed with the Garfield Cadets, Star of Indiana, Phantom Regiment, Carolina Crown, and Blue Stars. Currently a marketing professional for Stanbury Uniforms.

Nick Benson - Seattle, WA
From Seattle, WA, Nick has been teaching, designing and consulting for award-winning marching programs all across the United States for the past 20 years, specializing in movement training, drill/staging, choreography and program coordination/consultation. Nick is currently the Program Coordinator/Visual Designer for the Kamiak H.S. Marching Band and Winter Percussion from Mukilteo, WA, a position he has held since 2008. Upon relocating to the Portland metro-area in 2004, Nick held the visual caption head position for the Division III Champions and Open Class Finalist Oregon Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps (2004-2006, 2008-2009), and the Cascades Drum & Bugle Corps (2007). Mr. Benson was the Visual Caption Head for the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps from 2008-2012, helping them reach DCI Finalist status for the first time in 23 years in 2009. He also held the position of Visual Designer for the 2011 Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps. Nick was also the Artistic Director and Visual Designer of the Seattle Cascades Drum Corps from 2013-2019. Alongside Adam Oswald and Dylan Thompson, Nick Benson has co-authored a marching and movement program built for marching bands and drum corps alike. Its objective was to create a cohesive and holistic approach to movement and marching, both from an individual and ensemble standpoint.

Robert Solomon - Van Nuys, CA: Has been involved in the marching arts since 1979. He played trumpet and was drum major at El Camino Real HS in Woodland Hills, CA. Robert continued to perform as a member of the color guard for the Velvet Knights Drum & Bugle Corps and at California State University, Northridge. He then turned to instructing and has designed for several top programs in Southern California, and continues today. Has been judging since 1996 and is an adjudicator for Winter Guard International, Drum Corps International, Bands of America, and various state and local associations.