On Sunday, the WA marching band will be going to Lawrence to perform at their second MICCA competition. MICCA, or the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors’ Association, is a state-wide annual music competition that will be judging 30 marching bands from all over the state this weekend.

The competition is from 9:00 in the morning until 6:30 in the evening, and each band has an allotted section of time to perform in front of an audience of around 1,000. They are judged on a scale of one to five stars, one being the worst and five being the best.

Westford Academy’s marching band has been working hard to prepare for the rigor of the competition, especially since they are participating in one of the largest sections with some of the best bands in the state. However, they are currently in a good place in their preparation.

“I think our band is performing really well right now. I think we’re in a better preparation state than we were last year, and I’m confident in how they’ll do,” said Marching Band Conductor George Arsenault.

According to Arsenault, they are also working to push their performance to the next level by using a routine with more difficult tasks that require a higher level of execution, but the marching band students have risen to the bar and met these raised standards.

Additionally, the students’ responses last year were positive, and they are motivated to perform well this year too. It is not often that they have people listen to them critically, and MICCA provides a different experience than the noisy atmosphere of football games.

“Football games are fun, we have a great time […] but it’s nice to go to a location where everybody is very, very clearly there to listen, and that’s a really special opportunity,” he said.

He also noted that the chance to meet other marching band students and watch other marching bands perform was another benefit of the competition.

Students are enthusiastic about performing at MICCA this year and expressed a desire to work hard to improve. They scored a bronze medal last year.

“This year’s show is the most musically and technically challenging program we have ever put on,” said Drum Majors seniors Taiga Kambara, Michael Colavita, and junior Brian Carr. “However, we feel that the band reached a level where we can tackle these types of shows. Friday’s half-time show was one of our best performances, so we hope to build on that this Sunday.”

Despite their efforts to score well, Arsenault is not too concerned about the ratings or the competition itself and sees it as an experience for the students rather than simply a chance to win.

“It’s 100% [for the students],” he said.