On hot summer days and after long days of school, the McLean High School Marching Band joins together as they rehearse for a captivating performance. The season begins about three weeks prior to the first day of school, with long days of an intensive band camp to prepare for the eventual performance. Throughout the season, talented students perform a mesmerizing show called Unbroken at Friday night games and competitive competitions all around the area.
“We begin as a collection of individual fragments. The marching band is about taking those separate pieces and putting them together into a single, cohesive unit, creating a powerful and ‘unbroken’ entity for our performances,” senior drum major Natalie Maraist said.
Although every year is challenging, this year was particularly complex from the start. From the music to the choreography, band members faced new obstacles they haven’t seen in previous seasons.
“This year, our drill and our music is much harder than past years,” senior trumpet section leader Emma Weinshall said.
The band has a wide range of staff to assist students with the difficult show, along with section leaders for each instrument and three students who serve as drum majors.
“The three drum majors that we have are wonderful people. [They are] the first ones here every rehearsal, last ones to leave, and they move all the equipment,” band director Christopher Weise said.
The band must overcome the fatigue and exhaustion that comes with hours of rehearsal in the hot parking lot.
“Our main area for growth is maintaining consistent focus and musical energy throughout our longer, more demanding rehearsals,” Maraist said.
Despite long rehearsals, the band perseveres and steadily improves through dedicated efforts and creative problem solving.
“The main strength that is required is the steady and consistent ability to work and get better,” Weise said. “In our academics now, there are instant answers to almost any problem, but working towards developing a longer term goal is a skill I think will serve them well.”
With the help of skilled leaders and dedicated band members, the show gets better everyday.
“We’re using the feedback from judges’ tapes at our competitions to make specific tweaks to the music and clean our drill,” Maraist said. “A big focus is also on adding and polishing more visuals to help communicate the theme of the show more effectively”
Currently, the band is focusing on refining certain aspects of the show, such as choreography and drill. The choreography is meant to intensify the Unbroken theme, adding emotion alongside the music.
“We get to go back in and add choreography, which is really cool because it helps the whole [show] come together,” Weinshall said.
With around one month left in the season, the band is focusing on adding finishing touches to the performance, along with cleaning up weaknesses in the music and drill.
“They are going to keep plugging along, cleaning and just refining all the skills that aren’t mastered yet,” Weise said. “Now, it’s really about pushing people to do the absolute best they can do as an individual. With 160 kids on the field, every kid that fixes one thing is a big improvement.”
