The Marching Owls kicked off their season with band camp in the summer, making ample progress on their latest competition show ‘The Summit.’ The Band’s assistant director, John Wickersham describes the show’s progression.
“The summit is about climbing a mountain. It’s about starting at the base of a mountain and the journey that one goes through getting to the peak of the summit. But the show has a lot of deeper meaning and parallels [in] that it’s not just about the literal climbing of the mountain but also about overcoming life’s obstacles and things that get thrown at you. It has a lot to do with believing in yourself and not listening to outside forces and going deep within and pushing yourself to overcome obstacles that maybe not have been possible in years past,” Wickersham said.
The show consists of four movements, or parts, and samples music from Labrinth, Coldplay, Hans Zimmer and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10.
The first movement sets the stage with a baritone solo, luring the band to embark on a seemingly impossible journey. Movement two ramps up the intensity with heavy, dissonant chords and diamond-cutter formations until the climax, in which a life-threatening event crushes the morale of the band. Following the brief movement three interlude, the band picks themselves up, dusts themselves off and continues on their journey stronger than ever before. Movement four concludes the story as they reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Students are excited and up to the challenges this season poses. Drum major junior Owen Twaddell shares in this excitement.
“I think [the marchers] are able to improve after they’ve gone through trials and tribulations and are able to get better at marching and playing their instruments,” Twaddell said.
After bringing home the gold the previous competition season the band sets off on the journey to the Kansas Bandmasters Association, or KBA, at which some of the most competitive groups in the state compete. They’re here to throw down this season, and it’s important for us to support them through the challenges they may face.
“A big challenge is taking all of these things that were conceptualized and put down on paper, and then it’s our job as performers to bring [them] to life. Challenges [also] go with adapting and finding what’s going to work best for our students given all of the many variables that are involved,” Wickersham said.
Students are also eager to learn under the leadership of the Band’s new student teacher, Kat Mason. She shares the same sentiment and is looking forward to facing these challenges with them.
“I think it’s really fun and rewarding, especially in marching band, seeing the progress from the beginning of band camp to where we are now and knowing how much we’re even going to grow [throughout] the rest of the season, it’s really cool to watch,” Mason said.
