Indiana’s competition marching bands will have an extra contest this season to try to earn a trip to the first-ever state competition in the new Lucas Oil Stadium Nov. 1.
The Taylor High School band will be among those hoping to earn a state trip at the semi-state competition, set for Oct. 25.
Director Mark Snelson said in previous seasons, bands had to earn a minimum score at district to go to regionals, and then had to be in the top five at their regional to go to state.
This year, 10 bands will continue from each of the two regionals to the semi-state, where 10 will earn a trip to the state finals.
Snelson said the addition of the semi-state competition is meant to ensure that the best 10 bands in each class go to the state finals, rather than just the top five northern bands and the top five southern bands.
Taylor’s band begins its competition season Sept. 20 at the Maconaquah Sounds of September Invitational.
The band’s competition show is “The Dark Side of the Rainbow,” which Snelson said “follows the concept of the theory that Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album is supposed to line up with a lot of things that happen in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’”
Musical selections include “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “On the Run,” “Great Gig in the Sky,” “Us and Them,” and “Time.”
Snelson said while popular music can be hard to learn, “the kids are having a pretty successful time with it. We’ll see how that pans out once we put on the rest of the show.”
The band has learned the first two of three movements of the show and will perform it for the second time at Friday’s Taylor High School football game.
Snelson said as a band director, his goal is to create a positive learning environment for the students.
“From there we’ll see how that takes us as far as contests and placements. We would certainly like to be at state finals this year, but we’re going to take one step at a time, and hopefully that will be good enough.”
Danielle Rush may be reached at (765) 454-8585 or via e-mail at danielle.rush@kokomotribune.com
Kokomo band kicks off competition season today:
The Kokomo Marching Wildkats are the only local band in competition today. The band will perform at 9:07 p.m. in the On the Banks of the Wabash Invitational in Bluffton.
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Taylor band takes aim at state finals
Show merges Pink Floyd and “Wizard of Oz”
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