Talawanda band rises to demands of tougher competition schedule

UPCOMING EVENTS

Talawanda bands have several opportunities coming soon to hear them perform.

Marching band has long enjoyed great success at Talawanda High School and that tradition continues even with a tougher competition schedule and more demands on the band members to take a greater leadership role.

More demands are also being placed on directors Mike Marston and Richard Gonzales as they now not only have to plan a completion show but even supervise the writing of the music itself.

The two directors sat in their office at the high school in the days following the band’s appearance in the Mid-States Band Association championships pleased with their band’s performance and season, even without a championship trophy.

The Talawanda Marching Braves were an annual fixture in the postseason competitions sponsored by the Ohio Music Educators Association in the 1990s. O.M.E.A. standards require bands to earn their way in to the state contest but then are judged on a set of standards in various categories to earn a “1” rating. Bands are not judged against each other but the standards, meaning that many could go home winners, with “1” ratings.

Mid-States Band Association requires entry into events, including the championships, but then bands are judged on various criteria and given a score, but those with the highest scores return to the field for the finals, where a champion is crowned.

“Thirteen years ago, we did both O.M.E.A. and Mid-States,” Gonzales said. “Then, we phased out the O.M.E.A. system. We are surrounded by nationally acclaimed programs. We learn from those programs. The kids see it and we are a part of that. We have started to gain a reputation in the Mid-States system.”

Mid-States includes schools from Tennessee, Indiana and all around Ohio, he said, but there is also three-day Grand National competition if they choose to enter.

“It’s not just a local thing. We’re national now,” Gonzales said.

Marston was quick to add that other Talawanda bands continue to compete in the O.M.E.A. programs for other ensembles and groups. It’s just marching band that made the switch.

“This is nothing negative about O.M.E.A.,” Marston said. “The program is different. Criteria are different for the judges. We decided to do Mid-States so we do not have two sets of criteria to meet.

They did not enter the Grand Nationals this year, in part because they recently moved up to the top level of competition as one of the smaller bands in that group.

The two directors are responsible for the middle school and high school band programs, which had been separate in past years. Gonzales is now in his 13th year in the position, while Marston is in his eighth. Marston, a Talawanda graduate, also held band positions in Eaton and National Trail prior to coming back to his alma mater.

The two explained marching band shows have become more like separate pieces of work.

“Mid-States is more national scale. Judging is more on artistry and creativity and given credit for difficulty. Credit is given for thinking outside the box,” Gonzales said. “In the 80s and 90s, we did music from Broadway shows. In Mid-States, now we are like a Broadway show. There are some new costumes every year. Some make costumes that will fit the show.”

The directors explained using familiar Broadway show music can be a hindrance to high scores, because judges have already seen many performances using music from “Cats” and “West Side Story” and other shows and may unconsciously judge new performances unfavorably against what they have already seen.

That brings the challenge of finding music that fits a theme without choosing work that had already been done many times. The answer is to write your own.

Marston and Gonzales work with a composer, Richard Huston, who writes music around a theme, which they then take to create a marching band show.

The 2014 show was entitled, “Rapid Waters” which had three movements conjuring different images of water.

That process started more than a year ago and the music was written in time for music students to begin playing parts of it last spring and finally evolving into the fall competition show.

Color Guard members began the show using oars to depict rowing but quickly picked up their flags.

“We used colors in several shades of blue,” Gonzales said. “The guard unit dressed in various shades of blue. The flags were in various shades of blue.”

Revisions to the music and marching program were constant, right up to the final performance, the directors said.

“The end result is a lot of fun. It’s like putting on a musical. You build from the bottom up. It constantly evolves. It has taken the whole season to build,” he said, with Marston adding even the music saw changes and they and the composer heard the music being played both in the band room and on the field.

The final performance at Mid-States Nov. 8 found the directors and ban members pleased with the result, even though they did not advance to the finals.

“Kids were smiling when they came off the field and they said—before we knew the results—that they had done their best performance and were happy with it, regardless of whether they went to the finals,” Marston said.