Lined up in perfect formation on the turf, a group of students stands perfectly still, their brass instruments glinting against the backdrop of their maroon uniforms. As the percussion carries into a steady beat, the students begin to move across the field, perfectly in sync to the flow of their music. But behind this breathtaking performance stands the WA Marching Band’s core belief: “To have fun and express ourselves in an inclusive community that strives for excellence.”
For the 55 students that make up the WA Marching Band, staying true to their community’s values is something which they will carry with them during the upcoming New England Scholastic Band Association (NESBA) competition. The competition will take place on Saturday, Oct. 5 at WA, which marks the first time that the WA Marching Band will be hosting. Tickets for the event are cash-only, costing $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. Aside from WA, 14 other schools will be performing across all five divisions, with WA competing as a division three band against Salem, Burlington, Lowell and Leominster.
Counting division three, there will be a total of five divisions, which go in the order of increasing band size. During the competition, there will be two main judges, including a visual judge, who will be scoring the choreography, as well as a music judge. The overall award will combine all the points scored across all areas of the performance, with separate awards for Best Visual Performance, Best Musical Performance, and other individual awards.
According to Band director Adam Shekleton, hosting the NESBA competition has been something the marching band community has been interested in doing for a while. Having now reached a point where they feel comfortable as a community and an ensemble, they decided to apply, which proved to be a relatively short process compared to the large feat of hosting.
In order to organize such a big event, the marching band has utilized the help of many Westford residents across all communities, including band families and the YOUTHarts for Westford, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring the community together to advance music and arts for Westford children and teens. Some of the logistics of the event include figuring out the parking for the buses, set-up of the fields, hiring police detail, possibly partnering with local businesses for the food, and finding volunteers. Ultimately, the band community hopes to organize an event that shows off what kind of community Westford strives to be.
“We certainly have a sense of pride in inviting all these groups into our community and our home here, which is really nice. We’re involving a lot of [the community], like the chorus is going to be singing the national anthem at the awards ceremony,” Shekleton said. “I think it’s not just the band itself that is excited, it’s more of the community and the school.”
During the competition, the WA marching band will get to watch other high school bands, as well as the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Marching Band, perform. What makes the NESBA competition so special is that the marching band will be playing in an environment that is solely focused on their craft.
“What I do know is that the marching band competitions are something incredibly special, because unlike football games, everybody [is] there to see band, which means you have people in the stands cheering louder for you. It’s a feeling that’s unlike any other that I love experiencing,” saxophonist and senior Lara Rodriguez said.
According to drum major and junior Charlie Small, the show that they are performing is called “Pandora’s Box”. Their performance begins with a representation of all of the bad things being released into the world. As the music slows, however, a fixture of hope is left, culminating in the balance of both the good and bad. Their performance is more advanced than anything they have done before, both in terms of the music, the choreography and the drill movements on the field, as well as the props which they will be using throughout the show.
“We talked about what would be the best for our ensemble and what would work best for the growth of us as musicians,” Shekleton said. “Previously, we’ve done more pop music [while last year], we did music from Studio Ghibli that’s more written for marching band. […] With this show, because it offers some pop music mixed in, it’s a really nice in between and it’s more concept based.”
In order to have a solid foundation of the piece, many members spent 60 hours during a week in August at band camp, Monday through Saturday to practice. As of now, rehearsals are on Tuesdays, when they do their full performance on the field, and Fridays, when they meet up with their instrument sections and work on tweaking their music.
“Even though it’s a challenging show, it’s incredible the amount of effort that the freshmen, eighth graders […] and even just new members, have been putting in […] to match up the level of the much more experienced marching band members,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the only reason why we’re able to do this more challenging work at a more challenging pace.”
According to saxophonist and eighth grader Kelvin Lyman, it was the hope of developing his skill and making connections with other members of the band that first drew him to join.
“I figured if I was playing with more experienced people who’ve been doing it for even longer, one, they would just help me sound better. And two, it would just sound so fantastically amazing,” Lyman said. “And especially if we were all marching in formation and displaying confidence and just professionalism. It seems like a really cool experience to be part of something that fancy, professional, and exciting.”
For new members, marching band has proved to be a place where they can feel included and comfortable, opening an outlet through which they can express themselves. According to Small, the idea of creating a safe space for others is something that he hopes to continue fostering within the community.
“When I first started off, [marching band] served as my safe space. I [was] a very shy freshman I will say, […] and then marching band and band as a whole was the one place where I wasn’t stressed,” Small said. “So the reason why I chose this position [of drum major] was so that I could help other people feel the same way I did, and see band as a safe space where we can be ourselves.”
Although the marching band strives for excellence, they are not looking for perfection. Rather, they just want to be happy with their performance and do everything to the best of their ability. Going into their NESBA competition, this is a philosophy that they will carry with them.
“I am never concerned with scoring because our leaders put together a vision that we tweak every year, and their vision is that a successful season is ‘To have fun and express ourselves in an inclusive community that strives for excellence,’” Shekleton said. “That’s their thing. So if they achieve that, then the season is a success.”
