The Fair Grove High School band has officially started their 2025-2026 season with their marching band show, “Rocking Through the Classics.”
The marching show is chosen fairly far in advance. Natalie Palomo, the Fair Grove High School band director and teacher, explained, “I choose our show usually in November or December, and try to find music that will be fun to perform, present fun performance opportunities… and also meets the needs of our program regarding musical challenges.”
Currently, they are putting in work and practicing the show during early morning practices and their first hour band class.
Waylon Wright (12) showcased the band’s typical morning, “You have to be on the field ready to warm up at 6:45 am every single morning. We warm up for about 10 minutes, run a lap, then start working on whatever we need to work on that day.”
Gavin Brock (12) added, “. . . A typical day in band can range anywhere from a super chill day with not much to work on, to preparing as much music as possible and teaching the underclassmen what they need to learn.”
Wright and Brock are both drum line leaders. Brock shared, “As a leader my role is to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable to learn. I help make sure that everyone is marching correctly and I also help the drumline to work as a team so we can be as good as possible.”
There are other leadership roles, but the director leads them all. Palomo stated, “I love being the band director! I select music and help train my students how to prepare it correctly, hopefully over time enabling them to perform musically without me and allowing me to shape the flow of the entire ensemble rather than on an individual level. It’s the most rewarding job I could ask for.”
As director, Palomo has goals for this season. “My goals for the band this season are to outperform every year so far. Each year I hope our band can grow as musicians and performers, and push each other to continue to strive for excellence above what we’ve already accomplished.”
She continued, “I hope we can see our hard work reflected in the results of our competitions, but ultimately, we can’t control what the other bands do out there, we can just be sure what WE do is the best possible performance.”
Later in the year, there will be other performances and competitions. Palomo expressed her excitement, “I’m excited about our biggest performances as always! We have our local competition at MSU on 10/11 that’s always fun, and in the future, our Evenings of Jazz concerts are always some of my favorite nights. The Spring HS Band Concert is a great one too, especially with it being our seniors’ final performance.”
The Fair Grove High School band will be competing with their marching show at Missouri State University on October 11th, and at halftime during any football games that take place at home.
