Marching Band Concludes Fall Season In Winning Fashion
The Maize South Marching band has competed against large, competitive schools all over Kansas, continuously proving that their group should be mentioned among the best in 5A and 6A.
Jillian Tuny, senior, was the lead dancer in the performance ‘Reign’ this year.
November 6, 2019
This year has been a long ride for Maize South Marching band students. They have not only played at every home football game, but they also have been going to competitions all of the month of October in the Kansas City area.
“It takes a lot of work to put our halftime productions together,” Grant Whitcomb, band director, said. “Our first rehearsal was in May of last year, the students worked throughout the summer in small groups, band camp in mid-July for 2 weeks, weekly evening rehearsals on Mondays, additional sectional rehearsals, and regular block one rehearsals.”
The Marching band has been to three competitions in total in October. To start, they traveled to the Lee’s Summit North Invitational and placed first. Next was the Park Hill Marching Festival, where they again took 1st in their division and took 3rd first overall in the finals. Lastly, the group performed at the highly prestigious KBA Marching Championship and finished 9th overall.
“There’s nothing inherently more difficult about our competitions. We treat them as an extension of the rehearsal process,” said Whitcomb. “We emphasize to our students that our rehearsals must be of performance quality and they must give that level of attention to detail in rehearsal. With this approach, we try to build consistency and predictability for students.”
The Maize South Marching band received extra recognition for also having the best visual performance at the Park Hill Marching Festival, than at LSN received honors for their outstanding auxiliary, general effect, visuals and music usage.
“The hardest thing I’ve had to do in Color Guard was keeping a positive attitude throughout all of the trials and rough patches,” said Jillian Tung, senior. “I have gained perseverance and determination through Color Guard and I have really cultivated my leadership skills.”
Even though football is coming to an end and competitions are over for the fall season, the Marching band isn’t done for the year yet with the upcoming basketball game schedule that extends nearly four months into late February or sometimes early March.
“We will begin process for next year’s program in December, Color Guard auditions will be in early February and percussion auditions in March. We are excited about the future of the MSHS Bands,” said Whitcomb.
