By Renata Terrazzan

Co-editor-in-chief

Walled Lake Central’s Marching Band headed down to Indianapolis on November 10, 11 and 12 to attend the Bands of America [BOA] Grand Nationals, a competition held for Marching Bands across the country, and returned with lots of experience and fun memories.

The Music for All’s Bands of America Grand National Championships is the most anticipated marching band event all year. It is sponsored by Yamaha and is an educational competition that any high school band can participate in, but it is a first-come, first-served application process. Each band presents their show in front of a series of judges and has 15 minutes to dazzle them. Thursday and Friday were the Preliminary competition, and Saturday was both semi-finals and finals with a break in between.

After a long day of practicing and intense anticipation, Central finally performed at 9:15 p.m, the last band of night. “It was actually the best,” said junior Gabi Ndakwah. “After being first in all those other competitions, it was nice to relax for a little while before we performed and we could focus on the expertise of the college band that would play after us.”

The show began promptly and the powerful music filled the ears of the audience’s ears. This show portrayed the theme of “Inextinguishable,” which indeed they were with such an energetic and meticulously rehearsed piece, “It was the best we ever ran it, everything was right on time and so powerful,” said senior Sarah Telford about the performance.

WLC’s band not only audibly impressed, but shone visually too. The color guard sported black and grey unitards and waved brightly colored red and orange flags, which only added to the band’s precise drill (their spots on the field).

The final scores were quite unexpected due to their level of excellence, putting them in 34th place. “The performance was really well. I’m sure we all performed our best and left our hearts on the field,” said senior Valerie Allison

Regardless of the score, it was an honor to participate in such a public and competitive competition. And besides the results of this one, their other accomplishments, remain strong and bright, never letting WLC Marching Band’s shine dull.

Band teacher and director Mr. Rogers told staff in an email, “We had an excellent trip to Indianapolis, scoring one of our highest scores ever at that competition. We came in 34th out of exactly 100 competing bands. I’m very proud of the kids for the class and excellence they showed. I received many compliments both on their behavior and their performance ability.”

For many seniors, this will be the last time they share the field with their best friends. Allison said, “Nationals is something really special, especially senior year. It’s honestly the most exhilarating experience and it was amazing to perform there. It was also really sad because it was my last time and my last performance I’ll ever do with the rest of the band.”

To see their amazing performance click on this link: https://youtu.be/NAwfV7Cu4HY