On October 22, the marching band will go to Illinois State University for their biggest competition yet. They are hoping their hard work over these past few months will pay off.

The band started practicing their music in May and began group rehearsals late July / early August.

“The Marching Band prepares for all competitions through a combination of individual practice, daily class music rehearsals, small sectionals, and full group practices. We work on preparing the music as we review proper marching technique and learn the drill sets for our marching show,” Ms. Soebbing, the band director, mentioned in an interview.

Band members are looking forward to showing off how hard they’ve been working.

“I’m pretty excited because there’s a lot that goes into preparing for a marching band competition,” Jenny DeBlecourt, a senior in the band, said in an interview.

Students have been working on making sure that everyone has their music memorized before the last competition.

“It’s really difficult for me to memorize music. So, it takes a while for me to specifically memorize where the notes are on the staff and then picture that in my head as I play the music,” Jenny commented.

Soebbing noted, “It is crucial that every band member practice their music to the point where they can confidently play their part without needing to hear others play with them.”

The band wants to give their last performance their all and are confident they will have a good show.

“I feel pretty good about the competition because a lot of people have been putting in good amounts of effort,” Jenny mentioned.

“I think the band will have a confident performance at ISU. Ideally, it will be our strongest show of the season!” Soebbing commented.