School’s new band director leads students to victory
Mohonasen’s band saw a change in directors, but that didn’t stop them from winning the biggest competition of the year.
The New York State Field Band Conference Championships was held on Oct. 31, at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse and the Mohonasen Marching Band won their Class 2 Division with a score of 83.35. There was a panel of 10 judges grading the performances at the competition.
The routine was demanding and placed a lot of demands on the kids, said Band Director Daniel Jones. `They had to be able to play their instruments and move their body and do chorography simultaneously.`
The band’s performance lasted 7 and a half minutes and was titled `A New Days Celebration,` which was based on Aaron Copland’s `Appalachian Spring.` The performance painted artwork on panels to compliment the performance, which represent the sun rising throughout the performance as panels were lifted off the ground. The panels were made from 52-foot circular floor mats.
The previous band director Keith Bushey and the color guard instructor had brainstormed the idea for the performance and put together the idea for the final arrangement. Jones joined in and helped execute the plan once he joined the team.
`There was some concern from my part being if I would be able to step up and rise to challenge,` said Jones.
He said the students were going through a difficult time transitioning from one director to another. The band had to do some minor improvements, he said, based on feedback received during previous competitions throughout the year
`We were able to meet in the middle and get this thing done,` said Jones.
Senior Hannah Brem, flute and piccolo player, said the state competition was a `rush of emotions` as all of bands training came down to that one moment.
`[We were] happy cause wow, we did it, and sad because it’s our last year,` said Brem. `I won’t miss the cold nights though, not at all.`
Senior Kaleb Coffie, tuba player, also expressed his happiness for winning the competition.
Both agreed they joined band because all of their friends were in it and they have become like a family with fellow band members.
`I just have a lot of friends in band and it makes it enjoyable,` said Coffie.
Brem agreed and said, `Pretty much all of my friends are in band.`
During the last two weeks of August the band practiced intensely and in September through October the band meets from Monday to Wednesday, 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Brem said sometimes the day of competitions for the band stretches from 5 a.m. to midnight.
In all of their smaller competitions, Coffie said they came in first place except for one where they came in second; so being on top is nothing new to the band.
`The other [competitions] are like stepping stones to get to this big competitions at the end to see how you do statewide instead of just the little competitions,` said Brem.
Getting out on the field of the Carrier Dome was a exciting and daunting experience, said Brem, but after the excitement begins to settle for a little bit the focus goes right back to trying to win.
`You just focus for those seven minutes and all that practice and all that time we did all that practice for seven and a half minutes,` said Brem.“
