The marching band at Trinity High School is small but mighty. The band is made up of a variety of instruments from sousaphone to the piccolo, and every instrument is important.
Mr. Hilty, the marching and high school band director, has always loved music. Starting in elementary school and leading through high school, Hilty has always been in the marching band.
He loves teaching marching band and wants his students to love it too. Teamwork and collaboration are two big points that he wants his students to learn. He also teaches them important life skills, such as independence and advocating for themselves, because he wants to prepare them for the world after high school. Hilty wants them to learn that hard work does pay off, but having fun and making friends is just as important. He finds that teaching students to grow as a future adults is more important than any marching formation, even though he hopes that they will excel in that, too!
Songs and show concepts are selected with help of the band staff. Preparation for the next shows begin after winter break where they meet and discuss what they think will work best and select music that fits the theme.
This year, they chose to do something a little different and purchased the rights to a prewritten show: Grimm Tales (the concept and music). For the drill or formation, they hire someone to write that by sending them the instrumentation and the music.
The season has been quite successful with 2nd places at both of their competitions so far, as well as first place in Visual Effect/Performance. Their highest score this season so far is 74.225 out of 100 which is very hard to get. A few days ago at the Moon High School competition, they scored an 80.425 and won 5th place, the best that Trinity has seen in years!
Hilty clearly enjoys his job and cares deeply for his students: “I feel like I am the luckiest person because I love working with my band kiddos and I am just so proud of them!”
The marching band has won second place in the two competitions that they’ve been to so far this year, one being at Norwin High School and the other at Baldwin High School.
Casey Reinhardt, the senior officer of the marching band, said that he practices every single day for at least half an hour. Reinhardt is excited to see if they can reach first this year at Gateway for championships. He is in the marching band for the experience and wants to have as much fun as he possibly can before he goes into the real world. The band also gives him a reason to have a passion for music and lets him be able to express it. Besides marching band, Reinhardt is involved in chamber choir, orchestra, concert band and musical theatre. With all these activities, he still makes time for marching band and school work.
Reinhardt said, “I feel that this is the uprising of the Trinity underdogs. We haven’t been the best band for a couple of years, but I see this year as the beginning to something great.”
Savannah Ikach, drum major of the marching band, said that she uses homeroom and free periods throughout the day to finish homework so her evenings are free. She takes part in the musical every year, as well as the morning announcements and still has time to balance school work. This year Ikach has the honor of being the drum major and the opportunity to come up with ideas such as visuals to the shows.
In the marching band show, they have original pieces by Luke McMillan that are based on the Grimm Fairy Tales. The opener is based on Hansel and Gretel, the ballad is dedicated to Rumplestilskin and the closer is for Little Red Riding Hood. The stand tunes include “Uma Thurman” by Fall Out Boy as well as “Firework” by Katy Perry. The band hopes to add another exciting one as a surprise.
Ikach said, “The marching band has one more competition this season, championships, and we would love to see people come out to support!”
Trinity is certainly excited to see what the marching band will accomplish this year!