On February 24, 2016, the middle school and high school bands traveled with Band Director Truchon to Northwestern school auditorium to participate in a Large Group Band contest.

The bands were not in competition against the other bands at the festival, but only against themselves. The high school  performance consisted of Courtly Aires and Dances numbers 3,4,5, Eye of the Dragon and Liberty Bell, and the middle school performance consisted of Take the Stairs, Finale Themes, and Washington and Lee Swing. The judges had many comments for South Shore; both positive and constructive.  Two of the judges, Mr. Chekalski and Mr Kamrath talked about the importance of accidentals and trying to make the march have a more brass like sound. The other judge, Mr. Yamada directed the band for a short section of the piece Eye of the Dragon. He did this to help the musicians to hear the difference when we played it with a different feel, one that was more tense and forthcoming since the piece was about a dragon. The critiquing helped the band members to continue their learning of music and to become better at their instruments. Both bands received a second place.