Earns spot in finals at Bands of America Competition in NJ
By LAUREN TULLOCH
WAKEFIELD — For the first time since 2012, the Wakefield Warrior Marching Band won the New England Scholastic Band Association (NESBA) Championships, earning five caption awards for Division 5: Best Music, Best Visual, Best Effect, Best Color Guard, and Best Percussion. Wakefield earned a Platinum Medal with a score of 95.69 in this final competition of their season on Sunday night.
The previous weekend, the students traveled to Rutgers University to compete against 19 other bands from high schools in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts at the Bands of America (BOA) New Jersey Regional Championship. Their preliminary performance in the afternoon earned them one of 12 spots in the Finals that evening where they placed 10th overall.
Immediately following the awards ceremony, the band boarded the buses and headed back to Wakefield, arriving around 4:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. Twelve hours later, the Warriors were back on the field, this time in Quincy at the Massachusetts Instrumental Choral and Conductors Association (MICCA) Finals. Despite the lack of sleep, the band earned five stars in all categories, a gold medal, and the highest possible score.
The Warriors’ show, “Into the Storm,” features four weather related songs, “No Rain,” “Orange Colored Sky,” “Storm Works,” and “House of the Rising Sun,” and takes viewers through the story of a thunderstorm, featuring umbrellas and a dramatic rainbow flyover.
“What I liked most about this year’s show was how many different levels were added with the props, the flyover, the drill, choreography, etc.,” said color guard captain Kevin Lewis. “It really brought this show to life and exceeded everyone’s expectations of what we could do together as a group.”
Rainstorms were more than just the show theme this season with three of the nine competitions on the band’s schedule–including the one Wakefield was planning to host–either moved inside or canceled altogether due to weather.
“This was a one of a kind season,” said Thomas Director of Visual and Performing Arts Thomas Bankert. “In my seventeen years as director of the band we have never had more than one show rained out. This season we had 3. Without the opportunity to perform, it makes all the hard work the students do in rehearsal that much harder. The performance is the game, and anyone who plays or coaches a sport knows that when games are rained out it’s hard to create momentum and consistency on the field. That’s why I am so proud of the students for fighting through this and peaking at the perfect time in the season.”
Having missed the opportunity to see the band compete at home, hundreds of spectators showed up for a special performance at Landrigan Field the night before the band’s trip to New Jersey.
“We were so disappointed that our home show was canceled in our senior year,” said Allie Tulloch, mellophone section leader. “But it was such a nice surprise that so many people came out to give us a great send-off to BOA.”
Bankert said the BOA competition this year was the team’s biggest challenge with Wakefield competing against schools that are as much as four times larger than WHS and bands that are up to three times bigger.
“The students definitely held their own and showed why they belong on that national stage,” said Bankert. “They had their best performance at prelims, then a better performance at finals that same night. They topped it off with a five-hour bus ride home, four hours of sleep and then ended with a perfect score at Massachusetts State Finals on the next day. Not sure how you top that as an organization!”
For many of the band members, the BOA competition was the most memorable part of the season.
“We always stayed motivated. Despite missing multiple competitions this year, I’m so proud of us for making it to BOA finals again,” said clarinet section leader Vanessa Westlake. “I will remember the dedication that this group has from 9-hour rehearsals to double competition weekends. It has been the most rewarding four years.”
The culmination of all that hard work was Sunday night with the team’s championship performance at NESBA Finals.
“The highlight of the season was winning finals,” said drumline section leader Molly McGee. “Woot woot!”