On Saturday, Nov. 5, the Timber Creek Band competed for the last time this season at the REMO Series Finale in Dallas. The band finished the season strong with two solid performances in both prelims and finals, bringing home first place in their class in prelims as well as first place overall in finals with a score of 96.725. They also ended up winning caption awards for Best Music, Best Overall Effect, and Best Visual.
Although the band celebrated with a victory this weekend, it was still a bittersweet day for much of the program; it was the last time they would ever perform their varsity show, “Con-CHAIR-to” and the last time the seniors would take the field.
“Walking off the field was a bittersweet moment for me, and in those 30 seconds it took to march off, I realized that I had just performed the last show of my life,” said Noah Pujol, Woodwind Captain. “I reflected on the tremendous season we had and the band program that I and the people around me had built from the bottom up. However, on the outside, I couldn’t stop smiling. The applause from the crowd was deafening and it made the entire ensemble lift their heads a little higher.”
At the end of the performance, the featured bassoonists that start the show get back on the stage and are wheeled out onto the field to be cheered on by an audience of band members for extra visual effect. As the stage was being moved out to the center of the field, one of the wheels fell off and the soloists fell backwards, off of the stage. Fortunately, they made a quick recovery and bowed to the audience like originally planned.
“Getting first place at our last marching competition of the year was such an awesome experience, despite the fact that the stage collapsed,” said Tyler Martin, one of the bassoonists. “Personally, I can’t think of a better way to end the season because we really went out with a bang.”
Band is an incredible experience for every student that is a part of it, and each person takes away so much from it all. There is so much more to be learned than music such as leadership, life lessons and critical thinking that one won’t get anywhere else.
“Band throughout all of high school has been absolutely amazing,” said senior clarinet section leader Analia Kistler. “I got to be a part of a program that changed and has improved immensely each and every year. It has taught me how to lead and figure out the solutions to problems that I never thought I could. Most importantly, it gave me a group of friends that I can always count on… because we are all one big family.”
“Seeing the program grow is one of the greatest feelings in the world, and I hope to keep that true as we go into concert season and when us seniors leave for college,” said Pujol. “Band has taught me how to lead and has put me through amazing experiences and created relationships that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I have learned so much, and I wouldn’t trade any part of this experience for the world.”
See a full video of the performance below: