Marching season in full swing

With a tight schedule to prepare for a competitive parade routine, field show and appearance at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the marching band faced another scheduling challenge: four competitions on four Saturdays in a row.

With its first competition on Oct. 13, the band received tremendous success with its field show entitled “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

This year, the band competed in both parade and field show competitions, a change from the past in which it only competed in field show. The band has not competed in a parade in 12 years, making it a unique experience for all members.

“Since we have twice as much work to get done as we usually do, it’s important that we make the most out of every second we have to rehearse,” drum major senior Bennett Lopez said.

For the parade portion of the Cupertino Tournament of Bands competition, the band received first in class 5A parade, music sweepstakes and third overall.

After returning to school to practice for a few more hours, the 228 students returned to Cupertino to perform their field show, receiving second in class 5A field show following a one point deduction for going 18 seconds over their allotted time, first in woodwinds, second in brass, second in class 5A percussion, third in drum major and first in class 5A auxiliary.

In addition, the band received the sweepstakes award for music, marching and showmanship. With the highest combined score of parade and field out of all the competitors, the band also won grand sweepstakes.

“It was exciting to see our hard work pay off,” Lopez said. “However, we still have a lot of work to do to perfect and improve our show.”

Since the competition overlapped with the Homecoming dance, the band was given the option of returning to school after performing.

A week later, the band competed in a Western Band Association (WBA) competition at Dublin High School on Oct. 20. With no parade category at Dublin, the band focused its energy on improving its field show in preparation for harder competitors, like James Logan High School, which received first overall in the 5A category at the competition. Receiving third overall in the 5A category, the band trailed Homestead High School by 0.9 points and beat Mountain View High School by 5.25 points.

“We were up against some tough competitors, but I think it’ll motivate us to work even harder,” Lopez said.

The band competed in the Foothill Band Review in parade and field on Oct. 27 and will end its season at the Independence High School WBA field competition on Nov. 3, one day after senior night. After the field season’s conclusion, the band will focus its energy on preparing for its trip to New York from Nov. 18-23 for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.