A Quarter Note Start

The first band competition took place on Saturday 9/17 in Carl Junction, Fair Grove placed fourth in their group behind Monett, Aurora, and Pocola.

The band is directed by Natalie Palomo, who was happy with the band’s performance, “My thoughts regarding the last competition are that we did a great job, and got tons of positive feedback to move forward. The judges were fair and honest but really supportive, and I agreed with all that they had to say.” Palomo continued by adding, “We played well, and stayed together most of the show. We had our entire show musically prepared (the first time we’ve had it done early enough for this competition), and 2.5 out of 3 movements set to drill.

The Band’s color guard took first place in their class, on which Palomo commented, “I’m really proud of the kids for pushing the way that they have been to keep moving forward.” The color guard is coached by Audrey Harmon.

Alex Kepes (12) is an integral part of the band as one of the two drum majors, she gives her opinion on the role, saying “Drum majors are the people who conduct the band. They are the critical link between the center snare drum and the rest of the band. The players in the band watch drum majors for tempo, dynamics, shaping, and many other cues. This means that if a drum major doesn’t do their job, the band can fall apart very quickly.”

In preparation for the first competition the band practiced every morning before school rain or shine, Kepes explains , “ I absolutely adore early mornings and I will be devastated when they end…Watching the band marching and playing behind a watercolor sunrise is something I will never forget.” Kepes continued, “The drive in the band this year has been unlike any Fair Grove has seen before. No matter how early or how tired, not a single minute of a rehearsal has been wasted. This is almost unheard of in any band, let alone a high school marching band. We have moved extremely quickly and cleanly through our music memorization and our drill. This has launched us miles ahead of previous years.” 

In the coming weeks the band will continue to rehearse daily to work out some of the kinks in their showing, Palomo stated, “We will continue rehearsing for a couple hours each day, and the students submit videos to me each week that are sections of the trickier spots so I can see who individually needs help in various areas. We will keep pushing to iron the details and get the drill flowing!”

The next band competition will be the Ozarko tournament at MSU on Saturday, October 1st, starting at 10:52 in the morning and continuing throughout the rest of that day.