As the marching band stepped on to the football field for a Senior Night performance on Oct. 14, a feeling of pride was easy to detect. The countless hours of rehearsal over the past month and a half culminated in their 3rd to last home performance of the season.
“The band worked really hard going into Senior Night,” drum major Allison Okuno said. “It really paid off. There was just a really great showing of people and support for the seniors.”
The band prepared all four parts of the show before the first competition. In previous years, learning the four movements didn’t happen until the second or third competition.
“For as long as I’ve known the school’s marching band, which has been since 2012, we haven’t had the full show by our first competition, and this year, we did,” Okuno said.
To accomplish this goal, the staff pushed the band and leadership team to learn faster than previous years.
“We were smarter about how we designed the show,” performing arts chair and band director Jason Shiuan said. “From a teaching standpoint, I felt like we have been more vocal with the leadership team. We caught problems before they unwinded and developed the understanding that there is beauty in simplicity.”
The first of four movements consists of Shuian’s interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody, planting the seed for this year’s theme of “Blossom,” a symbol for “reaping what you sow.”
“The show is also a metaphor for the marching band season itself,” Okuno said. “We start really small from the beginning because it’s been a year since we’ve done marching band and from there, put something into it where we grow from that and blossom.”
The second movement, the age-old ballad La Vie En Rose, symbolizes “that first flower that blooms,” Shiuan said. The third movement is based on Fantasia and Fugue in G by Timothy Maher.
Ode to Joy in the final part of the show represents the idea of springtime when all of the flowers bloom. This is represented by the bright color guard flags, adding a sudden burst of color that concludes the show on a high note.
“Hopefully we communicate something to the audience that makes them feel something special,” Shiuan said.
The band performed in Fresno at the Sierra Cup Classic on Oct. 22, placing 7th in the finals. The next performance is in Sacramento at NorCal Super Show on Nov. 5.
