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March 29, 2024

Henderson Bandfest ushers in season for competition

Cimarron-Memorial wrestles championship away from Boulder City

The 13th Annual Henderson Bandfest

Justin M. Bowen

Members of the Coronado High School marching band and color guard perform during the 13th annual Henderson Bandfest held at Basic High on Saturday.

Updated Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 | 5:43 p.m.

Henderson Bandfest

Members of the Centennial Sound marching band perform during the 13th annual Henderson Bandfest held at Basic High on Saturday. Launch slideshow »
High School Net Score Placement
A Class Results
Cimarron-Memorial   41.60 1
Centennial 38.35 2
Boulder City 30.45 3
Virgin Valley 27.15 4
Cheyenne 25.95 5
Rancho 25.80 6
AA Class Results
Durango 37.35 1
Desert Oasis 33.40 2
Eldorado 30.30 3
AAA Class Results
Clark 64.50 1
Palo Verde 62.60 2
Arbor View 56.30 3
Open Class Results
Foothill 71.00 1
Sierra Vista 71.00 1
Green Valley 68.75 3

When Cimarron-Memorial High School was announced as the A class champions Saturday at the 13th annual Henderson Bandfest, the band students chanted the last name of their band director: “Melton, Melton, Melton.”

Their win was an upset in many ways. For the past three years, Boulder City High School has been announced as the A class champions, and they were hoping to do it one more time. For the past three years, Boulder City’s band director was Curtis Melton.

While Cimarron-Memorial students stood in Basic High School’s stands chanting Melton’s name, tears rolled down the cheeks of a few Boulder City students, who had previously admitted they missed the band director they’d worked with their entire high school career.

Henderson Bandfest, hosted by Basic and Coronado high schools, is the first competition of marching season for local high schools.

Andi Klann, 15, a member of the Boulder City color guard, said one of the hardest parts of the day was walking off the field after their performance and seeing their old director walking on with his new team. Cimarron-Memorial performed immediately after Boulder City.

This is the first year new band director James Gillette has directed a band, and his philosophy is focused less on competition and more on fun, he said, but he understood the emotion.

“Having a director here for three years … you kind of grow those attachments, those friendships,” Gillette said. “It’s hard to see your director go to another school and be successful there.”

Gillette said the students are adjusting well to the change in leadership. His idea is that, if the students are having fun, they’ll be more willing to adapt to his style of teaching.

So far, he said, the feedback from students has been positive.

“That was probably our best performance so far (this year),” Reese Barton, 14, said.

Boulder City ended in third place, behind Cimarron-Memorial and Centennial High School, who made an appearance at the show for the first time in at least four years, according to parents.

“Third is as good as first for us,” Gillette said. “So much pressure has been put on them in the past years, so maybe it was a good thing to come in third … As long as you come out with a positive outlook and a positive experience, there’s nowhere to go but up.”

Basic High band director Mark McArthur has helped to organize Bandfest for the past six years. He said his students, who spent their day volunteering at the event, don’t have time to get nervous about their performance. Still, the pressure is on.

“Today is not only the first competition, but also the first time the band directors get to talk with the judges afterward and talk about how to improve the rest of the season, which lasts five to six weeks, and gives us a shot to get better,” he said.

The judges were on the move Saturday, weaving in and out of the bands as they took notes throughout the field.

“I’m looking for a couple of things today: conformity in terms of musicality, phrasing, articulation, technique; are they approaching the instrument the same way, and the quality of sound,” judge Jason Koontz said. Koontz is the director of percussion at East Kentucky University and has been judging marching band competitions for 10 years.

“(The schools) bring in an outside panel so there are no politics and take the bands at face value,” he said.

Coronado junior drum major Nick Veslany said that while some of the upperclassmen are busy with different hosting jobs during the day, the rest of the band sits in the stands and cheers for other schools.

It was easy for bands to be supportive of each other, especially when the creative energy was flowing as it was with Cheyenne’s theme, “The Music of Danny Elfman,” a composer whose work has appeared in movies like “Beetlejuice” and “Edward Scissorhands.” The drumline was dressed as characters from the movies.

“Today, I like the attitude better this year than last because last year we were so focused on winning, but this year the attitude is so positive," Cheyenne senior bass saxophonist Kevin Rice said. "Plus, from the time we got our piece, we’ve done pretty good and got into the zone in only three weeks."

Many bands have been practicing almost every morning before school and sometimes after school. Students use the practice time to try and perfect their six- to eight-minute performances.

“We’ve been working on trying to get any little motions that have messed us up this week so I’m anxious and want to get out there,” Durango sophomore Arnold Otha said just before hitting the field.

Being a new school like Desert Oasis High School has some added pressure, students said, while other schools have new band directors this year. At Rancho High School, Michael West took over after Michael Foster retired last year.

“We sound like a fuller band, the tone is better and our marching is a lot better because Mr. West is willing to work with us one-on-one,” senior baritone player Mark Goodlow said. “The main thing is, Mr. West makes us conform to the judges' standards and once we master that, he lets us add our own touch to it.”

Palo Verde High School is in its second year with director Cara Froelich, who came from Coronado.

“She gets the job done,” said drum major Whitney Cox. “It’s only been two years and she’s whipped us back into shape.”

Cox said she has high expectations for this year.

“Last year was a transition year,” she said.

This year, though, there are a lot of freshman in marching band, which is a positive thing, she said. They’ve never known anything else, so it’s easy for them to adapt to Froelich’s style of teaching, whereas the older students has to adjust to the change.

Palo Verde placed second in the AAA class.

Being the first competition of the season, Bandfest serves a high purpose for some students.

“It kind of sets the tone for the season,” Cox said. “But not always. Some bands will step up and do better (later on).”

A.J. Heckman, 17, a trombone player for Green Valley High School, agreed. Bandfest allows bands to show off what they’ve worked so hard on while also seeing where their competition stands.

“It’s the first time we’re in an environment where we can see what everyone else is doing,” he said.

Cheryl McDermott, of Green Valley’s color guard, said their team also is experiencing change after bringing in a new coach this season.

“His style of teaching is a lot different than our last coach,” she said. “I think he’s doing really well, making everyone feel comfortable. We’re going to have a really strong season.”

One announcement the crowd wasn’t happy with was regarding Open Class.

Debbie Sabean, a parent of Foothill High School band student Melissa Sabean, said the band moved up a class because of all of the new students who joined. Assistant band director Nick Waters said in August the band had grown by nearly 50 percent in the last two years.

Sabean wasn’t sure how the group would do because of the change, but in the end Foothill placed first, along with Sierra Vista High School. The announcement of a tie elicited a few boos from the crowd.

Basic and Coronado bands cannot place because they are hosts. However, they still perform and many students said the judges' comments are thoroughly discussed Monday after competition.

Madeline Carlson, 16, drum major at Coronado, said one thing that makes a difference in hosting is all the extra work that needs to be done. In addition to performing, the students have to provide information to incoming bands, sell snacks and refreshments, and clean up afterward.

“It takes a lot more planning,” she said.

At the end of the day, the students were just trying to have fun .

“I think we will do excellent in this competition because it's very important to show how good we can be,” Eldorado sophomore Lynda Iromocc said.

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