by Madison Newton
The Republic Tiger Pride Marching Band took the field for their last finals performance of the season in St. Charles at the Music in Motion competition on October 19. The competition was held at Francis Howell North High School, where the band received 8th place.
The band has been working since the beginning of July. Along with working 8 to 5 at band camp for two weeks in the summer, the band members also had an hour and a half rehearsal each morning before school that began at 6:45 a.m.
Throughout the season, the band won multiple awards, including “Outstanding Visuals” and “Outstanding Music” in prelims at the Ozarko competition held at Missouri State University, and “Outstanding Percussion” in finals at the Pride of the Ozarks competition held at Ozark High School.
“Our percussion teacher always talks about vertical alignment where whenever we hit a note, we are all together and not slightly behind. We are all in sync and in the same mindset as each other,” said front ensemble section leader senior Kurt Goddard.
For most seniors, this year’s show, titled The War of the Roses, is the most challenging show they have done in their four years. It is based on the series of English civil wars between the houses of Lancaster and York that ultimately ended in their unification by marriage in the House of Tudor.
With difficult music and complex drill, the show is full of thematics to illustrate the ongoing war between the brass, designated by the Red Rose of Lancaster, and the woodwinds, designated by the White Rose of York. Their show ends as the brass and woodwinds kneel to the throne, symbolizing that their war is over.
“It’s definitely more theatrical. I feel like the music and the drill is a lot different. They decided to do more challenging music, so I feel like we were all kind of happy about that,” said senior drum major Maggie Moncado. “It was just a fun show – there was a lot more emotion to put into it.”
After a hectic few months, there is little rest for the band. They will soon begin preparing to march in the Republic Christmas Parade, and then move on to the regular concert season.
You can see them perform their last show of the year tonight during halftime at the home football game against Neosho, where seniors will be marching out of their shoes, bringing an end to their high school marching career.