The Delaware Valley Golden Regiment Marching Band began their competition season this Saturday, Sept. 12th. The band performed at both Holland Community Day and a US Bands Competition at Emmaus High School in PA. They scored a 68.3 out of 100.
This year’s performance piece is “Marian – The Lady Hood of Sherwood Forest” by Randall Stradridge. This piece retells the story of Robin Hood, where the role of Robin Hood is replaced by Marian, the Ladyhood of Sherwood Forest. Robin has been arrested by the sheriff, and Marian and the band of outlaws that live in Sherwood Forest must rescue him. Andrew Kapetanakis, the assistant director of the band, enjoys the piece.
“I think it fits our band really well. We have a really wide selection of our instrumentation and a good diversity in our orchestration here.” Kapetanakis said. “I think that our music suits us really well. Our students can really do a great job performing this show.”
The day began long before the performances, with a 8:45a.m. rehearsal, where students practiced their pieces and marching. Before leaving, the band packed the trailer, directed by electronics captain, Ryan Carr, and percussion director, Brandon Schuetz. After the trailer was loaded, the band broke for lunch. At 1:45p.m., the Golden Regiment boarded the busses, and headed out.
The first performance was for Holland’s Community Day at 3:00p.m. After arriving, the band unloaded the trailer, and began to set up in the parking lot. At the same time, the Del Val cheerleaders performed by the fields. At 2:45p.m., before a crowd of 150 people, the band began to play. Their performance piece was split into 3 parts – the band played movements 1, 2, and 3 at a standstill. TJ Hayden, the band director, was proud of the parts the band performed.
“I was really glad we were able to perform.” Hayden said. “I was glad that we made the scramble. We made the effort to be present in our community. It was cool for us to get back.”
After their performance at Riegel Ridge, the Golden Regiment packed their trailer and headed to Pennsylvania for their judged performance.
20 minutes before the band arrived at the competition, Carr addressed the band. After offering words of encouragement and advice, the band put on their uniforms. At the same time, battery captain, Kai Osaki, played a recording of the piece. Silently, the band prepared for their first competition of the year.
After arriving, the band unpacked the trailer and set up for their performance. Keyboards were uncovered, amps were connected, the drum kit was set up, and mics were positioned. After unpacking the trailer, the band warmed up on the practice field, while the pit warmed up on a parking lot.
At 4:50p.m., the band began to walk down to the performance field. The pit left first, pushing their larger instruments. The brass, woodwinds, and drumline left five minutes after, marching in step. Upon reaching the football field, the band was getting mentally prepared for the performance. At 5:15p.m., the Golden Regiment took the field.
After the performance was done, the equipment was brought back up, and loaded onto the trailer. The band was then dismissed to get dinner, and to watch the other high schools perform.
At 7;30p.m., the award ceremony began. All the captains from each high school went up to the field to accept awards
One by one, each band’s score was announced. Del Val won 1st place for Group IIA, with a score of 68.3. In addition to receiving a trophy for 1st place, Del Val received awards for best percussion, best color guard, best overall effect, best music, and best visual.
A score of 68.3 so early in the season is special. Osaki attributes that to a sense of cohesion in the band.
“Our willingness to work as a team, and be nice to one another is creating this nice community where we can all just work together to put together, to put such a show on,” Osaki said. “This is really gonna lead us through the season.”
Other section leaders agree. Pit captain Sofia Sliver attributes a sense of community to her fellow section leaders.
“[The night’s success came from] a lot of working together, working as a community, but also, I feel like, our section leaders.” Sliver said. “I feel like we had a lot of positive enforcement and a lot of energy.”
However, Hayden explained that high early scores are not the full story to success. Despite this, he believes the future is strong.
“It’s challenging to compare year to year. It’s a different panel of judges. Judges in US Bands are trained to score comparatively, which means that they are comparing us to the other groups that are happening that day.” Hayden said. “I have no inclination that we’re planning to slow down our progress. We’ve got lots of goals ahead of us. I’m feeling good.”
The Golden Regiment’s full competition schedule can be found here
