Article by Jarrett B.
Video produced by Jessica J.
Your Mustang Marching Band took on the biggest challenge of their year by competing in the Colorado 5A State Band Competition at the Air Force Academy on October 29th, 2021. In their first time to state since before the Pandemic. Even though I myself don’t know much about our band program, talking with a few of the seniors it sounds like a completely unique and very energetic atmosphere. I interviewed two band members to learn more about the competition, Codie T. and Jessica J. Overall, it was a very successful and fun year for the band as a whole. Codie plays the “Unknown Evil” in the band, a character played through storytelling who attempts to “eliminate” the band but is ultimately defeated. When asked what her favorite part or memory from the state competition was, Jessica answered by stating “No one in the band had been to state before, so it was really moving to get to perform in front of so many people and compete with the top bands in Colorado.” Jessica made it sound as if the band program has been improving throughout the years. This was the first state competition made since before the class of 2022 even started their high school journey.
As a student at Mountain Range, the marching band definitely left some impact on me, especially performing out under the lights at a recent football game. Performing in front of a fairly full student section, they received big cheers and applause for their storytelling through very precise action movements and their musical talents. It was truly quite a treat to get to listen to them at the game.
Reflecting on their performance at State, Codie explained, “my favorite part was being on the field because all of our hard work and time spent paid off to get us to that moment.” The Mountain Range Marching Band is clearly headed in the right direction and there should be big things to expect from them in the coming years. Codie and Jessica were both very pleased with how their season went. “I feel that this was our band's best performance by far” stated Codie. Added Jessica, “I feel that overall our performance was the best one we’ve had all season. It wasn’t perfect but I’m really happy that we got to end our season on that run.” According to Jessica and Codie there’s nothing but everyone's hope and full support for them heading into the future.
Even though it didn’t end the way Codie, Jessica or any of the other students or faculty had hoped for, the two seniors still showed their love and support for some other top band programs in the state. When asked who they believed showed out the best at state, Codie answered by stating, “I believe Monarch had the best band.” Jessica also threw in her opinion, “I think the best band was Fossil Ridge’s marching band. They got 2nd in state, just 0.2 points behind Legacy, though Fossil Ridge was ahead of them the whole year up until State Finals.”
