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The Hastings Marching Band has been performing at multiple competitions since the start of the school year finishing at or near the top spot of the competitions with their performance “Interstellar”. The field show does a wonderful job of blending galactic sounds, familiar choruses, excellent volume changes and wonderful visuals drawing the audience into space with them. The color guard and prop team add a depth to the show that help transport viewers and judges to the stars and the feeling of weightlessness.

Sunday night, September 26, the band help a special performance for Raider fans at Todd Field. The performance included the school song to start the night along with other ‘rousers’ they play at sporting events. Marching band Co-Director Tom Wentzler welcomed the fans and explained the night.

Color Guard Coach Grace Bauer explained how the color guard integrates into the performance and gave a brief demonstration of the skills of the color guard including them performing their opener for the piece.

Percussion Director Josh Wahlstrom explained the importance of the percussion section in the performance and then led the percussion line through their portion of the performance. During the isolated percussion performance, fans were able to focus on the role of the percussion group and the unique sound they bring to the band.

Wentzler then spoke on the hornline and led them through their part in the performance followed up by Co-Director Emily Chandler explaining the importance of the prop team. After the prop team was prop-erly introduced (see what was done there?) they demonstrated their portion of the performance.

With all four phases of the show explained and individually sampled, it was time to bring the entire performance to the crowd. First, they performed the music only. Everyone stayed stationary and played.

Once that was done, Wahlstrom read the description of the performance as if the band was at a competition and the show wowed the audience.

The staff thanked everyone for the support they have been given and families took the opportunity to take all the pictures they wanted. It was a great way to kick off homecoming week for Hastings!

Photo by Bruce KarnickDrum Major Ethan Bernt begins and ends the performance with a salute to the crowd and judges, an excellent touch to a wonderful performance. Photo by Bruce Karnick.. See MARCHING BAND Page 3

A small portion of the brass from the horn line of the Hastings Marching Band. Photo by Bruce Karnick