This past weekend, on November 5th, the marching band competed at the state competition at Ford Field in Detroit. They were up against ten other high school bands from around the state and overall performed extremely well.
The band competed against Reeths-Puffer, Dewitt, Lakeshore, Southgate Anderson, Carman-Ainsworth, Cedar Springs, Thurston, Linden and Mount Pleasant. They ended up in fifth place with an average score of 80.75.
Band director and teacher Gregory Wells worked hard to ensure his students were proud of their performance.
“[The band] scored over 80, which is always a nice benchmark for us to get,” Wells said. “With the competition that we were going against, I think that was right where we should have been, and the score is very indicative of our performance and how we did that day, so I am quite pleased.”
Throughout the marching band’s season the theme of their performances was Villainous which was based on villains people hate to love. At states, they performed “Opening Title” from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the Joker’s “Waltz to the Death”, “Speak Softly Love” from The Godfather, “Mrs Gulch” from the Wizard of Oz and “Defying Gravity” from Wicked.
For members of band, performing at states is a big opportunity. Junior drum major and clarinet soloist Lilly Childers loved the feeling of putting on the best show for her school and was pleased with the outcome.
“I remember getting the band up at set and starting the show, playing my solo and having a huge amount of pride knowing I did my best and finishing out strong,” Childers said.
The band put in a lot of effort to be successful at their state competition.
“[It took] a lot of work and time, it doesn’t work if students don’t play their part. To have ownership is crucial, because we don’t have a bench in band, so we can’t sit you out. Everyone has a unique position and they have to do it, no one else can do it for them,” Wells said.
Senior drum major Erin Fennema was happy to conclude the season with this performance and the work leading up to it.
“We created a good balance between having fun and being able to work on the show so that everyone would stay committed. The performance was one of our best. We did all the tempo changes correctly and everything just fell into place,” Fennema said.
