Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association is a nonprofit organization that provides competitive adjudications for high school marching bands in southwestern Pennsylvania. Founded in 1996, 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
Gateway High School– 8 times
Moon Area High School– 3 times
North Allegheny Senior High School– 1 time
Norwin High School– 5 times
Penn-Trafford High School– 6 times
South Park High School– 1 time

Scoring is based upon the same system used by Bands of America, featuring a Musical Performance category, a Visual Performance category, and a General Effect category. 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 Class1997-2012: National Class was introduced and lasted for 15 seasons1999: No Class AAA, AAAA, or National Class Champions 2019: No Class AAA or AAAA Champions

2020: No PIMBA Festivals or Championships

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.
The five winningest class champion bands include Mars Area High School, Gateway High School, Kiski Area High School, Norwin Senior High School, and Trinity High School. Kiski Area is the most winningest overall champion with 15 titles.