Marching Hawks impress competitors

The Marching Hawks are gearing up for the performance of the year during the annual Showcase of Bands held at Bel Air High School.  This event brings each marching band from every school in Harford County together to perform their 2018 sets.

1. Milton Wright, Harford Tech, and Fallston are only a handful of schools that will be “showcasing” their half-time performances, previously shown to students who attended seasonal football games.

In previous years, the marching band has performed a variety of shows including Willy Wonka, Michael Jackson, and The 80’s!

As the 2018-19 marching season is introduced, the band has put together a compilation of well-known songs from favorite movies, naming the show, A Night at the Movies.  Themes include Space, Animation, and Action & Adventure with songs from movies such as Moana, Indiana Jones, Star Wars,  James Bond, and The Avengers!

With 2018 being the band’s sixth year performing for other schools, all eyes will be what they have improved on from last year.

According to the members of the band, one of their biggest improvements from year’s past is that the band set their entire show in the time spent in band camp for the first time ever!

The month of October is crunch-time for the band, as they will be spending a lot of time memorizing their four songs and perfecting each step in their 21-set show.

This is the first time the band has had two co-drum majors under the direction Mr. John Wojciechowski, who came to the Nest at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.

According to seniors Lynne Thomas and Nicholas Danielczyk, they have put in multiple hours of hard work and dedication to prepare the band for a performance that may be the best yet!

Wojciechowski reveals that he is ”so proud of the students for coming out of band camp with the whole show in place as it has allowed [us] to be prepared for any issues regarding the weather and canceled after school rehearsals,” Wojo continues, “ The band has worked super hard and I am so proud of them.”

The band has been given help from Assistant Director and Visual Designer Daniel Dotson, Brass Technician Spencer Koppenol, and NH alumni Marissa Ramsland.

When asked what the thinking process was while coming up with this concept, “Wojo” explains he “wanted the band students as well as the audience to easily recognize the music selections and the symbols created to make for an enjoyable performance.”

The showcase at Bel Air is different from performing during the halftime show, as the competition is set for band members to endure much sunlight during the day, instead of the foggy lights of the cool stadium at night, creating yet another challenge to overcome.