As in past years, the band consistently placed highly at competitions throughout this marching season with the show “Find Your Voice.”
Kicking off the competition season at Del Mar High’s annual Feste Del Mar Band Review on Oct. 7, the marching band finished first overall in their class, 6A, with a total of 92 points out of 100. The drum majors won third in the field conducting category, the auxiliary won first and percussion was third.
Although the students had not yet learned the entire show then, junior trumpet and General Manager Matthew Graham said that the portion performed at Feste Del Mar was above standard.
“The band had an amazing run, and we had one of our highest scores in the past years,” Graham said after the competition. “This show has incredible potential, and we can’t wait to see how it turns out when we finish our season.”
The next week’s competition, the Cupertino Tournament of Bands, however, was canceled because of the poor air quality caused by the North Bay fires. It had been originally scheduled for Oct. 14.
At Fresno State’s Sierra Cup Classic on Oct. 21, the band was runner up to James Logan High with an overall score of 87.81 out of 100.
As the only competition with an overnight trip, the Sierra Cup Classic was a special bonding opportunity for the show members.
“Traveling to competitions that are farther away builds up hype because the change of scenery just does something to get people excited,” band General Manager and flute soloist Deyshna Pai said. “We are away from our familiar surroundings and we’re having a band adventure of our own.”
The competitive season concluded with the Bands of America NorCal Regionals at San Jose State on Oct. 28, when they won seventh overall with a score of 72 out of 100.
Even though some band members were disappointed because last year they had won second, Graham said that “regardless of what place we got, our band had an amazing last run, and you can’t ask for anything better than that.”
One big difference this year was that choir joined the band performances. Choir, band, directors and staff agreed that there were no problems with the addition.
“It’s been really cool to be a part of the band performances because no other school has integrated choir into band,” junior choir member Simran Mallik said. “It gave choir more performance opportunities outside of the regular concerts that we do.”
As the marching season ends, the band, choir and Color Guard will start to focus on concert music and after-school activities like winter percussion and winter guard.