Superior Season
Band earns recognition at marching competition
The band earned an overall Superior at the Music Performance Assessment (MPA) hosted at Bloomingdale High School Nov. 2.
A superior is the highest score they can receive at MPAs. Over 25 high schools participated, but the schools are judged individually to see their improvement and skills in individual categories. Freshman Ashton Stewart participated for the first time with the band.
“I think we did really well,” Stewart said. “We had first year color guard and we still did fairly well overall, we got superior, so we got an A. We did really good.”
This year’s theme, “My Favorite Things”, was chosen last February. The theme has to be music that the audience will appreciate but students can also learn from in class.
“My favorite part was when everybody got one of the sets right that we had been working on for a while,” sophomore Sarah Hill said. “The crowd was cheering, and it felt really good to know that our hard work had paid off and that the crowd liked our show.”
The job of the drum majors is to conduct the marching band, keep time and to act as leaders for the band. The drum majors this year are junior Ainsley Neil and senior Noma Imudia.
“Being drum major is stressful, but it’s still fun,” junior Ainsley Neil said. “You have to know the music before everyone else so you can help when the other students are learning, and you have to make sure you’re always keeping the right tempos so all the components of the piece fit nicely together. That pressure can be a lot to handle, but it’s very fun to conduct so it’s not too big of a burden.”
To prepare for the event, the band has been practicing since their summer training camp, two weeks before this school year started. The color guard was restarted this year and has been preparing for the competition season since the end of last school year.
“I love being able to participate in color guard and having the opportunity to learn a new sport along with being able to perform with our prestigious band,” senior Madelyn Byers said. “My absolute favorite part of being in color guard is spending my weeknights hanging out with the other wonderful people on my team.”
To end the event, University of South Florida’s marching band performed a mash-up of two of their half time shows. After the performance, seniors were recognized for being a part of the band or color guard for four years.
“I think the kids’ performance was one of their best,” band director Brian Dell said. “They rose up to the occasion for this today, given the circumstances of how hot it was and how long we had to wait before we could perform, but I couldn’t be more proud of the kids.”