Band Marches to the End of a Great Season

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We all know that football season has come to an end, which means that Marching Band season has ended, too. To many people this means the last time they march a show, and to others it means that they spend the rest of the year wondering what the show for next season will be.

“I’m both happy and sad about it coming to an end. I’m happy to go home earlier than usual and sleep, but I’m also sad because I won’t have anything to do,” sophomore Crystal Huynh said.

Of course with everything that ends, there is always something to long for when you’re not doing the activity you are so used to doing so often.

“I’m going to miss “Hey Band!” every week. I’ll also miss the stadium practice when we got rained on, and staying after school to get food before the games, every week,” Huynh said.

On the bright side, there are always a few things to look forward to during concert season, other than sitting down all the time.

“I look forward to the Corpus Trip and UIL. I also like that the music we play during concert season is more challenging,” Huynh said.

Like most members, the freshmen were also proud of getting through their first year despite all the challenges and overwhelming thoughts.

“It went well, and it was a great experience. I didn’t think we’d accomplish as much as we did,” freshman Cameron Garza said.

There were also fears going into their first year of marching band.

“I was scared I wouldn’t fit in or pick up marching as quickly as I did,” freshman Hannah Rushton said.

From freshman to seniors there seems to be an obvious difference in how they see their current year. To some seniors, their last year is a lot of mixed emotions. While some are ready for their final year of high school to be over, others also realize how many normal year-to-year things that happen, for the final time.

“The first day of summer band I was like ‘This is my last day of summer band. This is my last, last day of band as a whole, so like going throughout my senior everything is its last,” senior and Head Drum Major, Andrew Armstrong said.

The band directors were also proud of the outcome of the show.

“One reason we liked the show is that the performers took ownership of the production,” percussion specialist, Bill Holden said.

As it transitioned from marching season to concert season the most common thing that band members look forward to is sitting during class while playing. As that is one of the most looked forward to thing, the band directors and band members also have other events and moments they appreciate.

“Hearing the progress from the day we start working on new music to the day of the last performance. And hearing kids improve in their skills,” band director, Chris Lambrecht said on his favorite part of concert season.

To make it as Drum Major as a junior is a great accomplishment, so to then become the Head Drum Major as a senior must feel even better. As great as it is, there are also different feelings from being someone who looks up to two other people, to having two people look up to themselves.

“This year, having experience, it’s a lot more difficult because I have two other Drum Majors, that have never done this before, and they are both looking up to me and so not only do I have to lead the entire band, I have to lead two other leaders so that they know what to do and the right thing to do in whatever situation,” Armstrong said.

Although Armstrong was the Head Drum Major, he is also a senior. He started his freshman and sophomore years marching like everyone else; but overall his position didn’t keep him from enjoying the season like the rest of the band.

“To me, out of all my other three years, combined together, this show is above all of them,” Armstrong said. “I’m not saying I didn’t have fun my other years; I had a blast the other years, but as soon as I got to my senior I kind of looked back and I was like “wow, this is so much better than the other years have been.” And I think a lot of that comes from getting a new director; Ms. Blanscet had a big impact on that. Just in comparison, this show was more centered around a theme, my other years didn’t really have some central theme that held the show together, so I think that’s what made this show so fun.”