Band flies into the season with Macy’s in mind

The finish line for this year’s marching band lies 3,000 miles to the east in the streets of Manhattan, where they will march in the prestigious Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

As a result, the marching band is practicing assiduously under the blazing sun each day. Despite having to adjust to the changes that came with this season, the band members have worked hard to have their show ready for their first competition on Oct. 13.

The field show this year, according to drum major senior Bennett Lopez, is called “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and captures the idea of oppression and the quest for freedom.

Although the marching band members learn a new show every year, they are particularly pressed for time this season because of the addition of the Macy’s Parade.

“This year because of Macy’s, everything’s being done at a much faster pace,” first-year band director Jonathan Pwu said. “The band is very capable this year. The class of 2016 has been wonderful and that learning curve has gotten much better so we’re moving at a much faster pace.

“At this point last year, we weren’t done with the second movement, but as of [the first week of September], we are done with the second movement [out of four in the show].”

Despite the faster pace, the band has been making progress with the assistance of new staff members such as visual caption head Benjamin Kane, visual and music staff member Amanda McNary, rifle technician Kevin Chen and pit percussion caption head Vince Oliver.

The staff have provided a stepping stone for the 228-member marching band, bringing new experience to teach the students. The band’s leadership team, additionally, has also transformed, furthering the band’s progress both on and off the field.

“Before, leadership was more of a collection of the best marchers or the best players,” said drum major senior Kevin Chen. “But now it’s more of a real team that works with the staff and the directors to really make a difference in our band. We meet pretty often to discuss our ideas.”

Although unexpected from the new strength of the leadership team, the team includes a significant number of new leaders. In addition to returning drum major Lopez, there are three new drum majors, Chen, Michael Shang, and Justin Hang, as well as a new general manager, Oliver Chen.

“Having three new drum majors is pretty fun,” Lopez said. “I like having different points of view and people I can agree with and work with, so we all can create the band that we want, rather than just a couple of ideas thrown together.”

Despite being mostly new, the drum majors have made a significant difference in the progress of the band.

“Honestly, you couldn’t even tell that [the drum majors] were new,” Pwu said. “The drum majors have been really great and really proactive. All four have very unique and different personalities and different strengths and they’ve been a really great team.”

The drum majors, along with the staff and the rest of the leadership team, have set the tone of the season with their guidance.

“This upcoming season is going to be really fun seeing that we’re going to Macy’s as well as doing field,” Lopez said. “Doing a parade on top of that will be pretty tiring, but it will be really great in the end because it’s fun.”

Regardless of the heavy workload that lies ahead, they are anticipating a memorable season.

“I think this upcoming season is one of our strongest seasons because we’ve gotten so far already this early,” senior Kevin Chen said. “With all these new instructors, we have a really good chance of doing better than we did last year.”