By John Lee
The Pride of Pampa Band will be competing in the 4-4A Area Competition in Amarillo on Saturday after posting all 1s at the Regional Marching Contest.The band will be competing at 1:30 p.m. at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo.
“Region UIL Marching Contest is one of our two judged performances that dictate the strength and quality of our program,” Band Director Andy Sedlacek said. “The other performance is UIL Concert and Sight Reading in March. The challenge of marching season is choosing a show that the students will be able to perform, while still being a challenging show that they will be able to compete with other programs at the Area UIL Marching Contest.”
Earning all 1s is a testament to how the band embraced the challenge of the program they are playing each week at halftime. Sedlacek said his pride came from how the students continued to improve throughout the season.
“The show that we are performing this year is an increase in difficulty,” Sedlacek said. “We are pushing the bounds further than before. It made the season a more difficult journey, but getting a First Division Rating from all three judges at Region UIL Marching Contest makes it all worth it. “The pride for me comes in seeing the students not only succeed when they perform against that statewide standard, but in the two weeks since that they have continued to push and improve. They have turned from individuals moving and making sound to a full ensemble performing music and movement. I'm excited for people to be able to see that progress when we compete.”
The band is performing “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saens, a reliable piece for Sedlacek. Fitting with the Area Competition being on Halloween, Sedlacek said the piece deals with the finality of death, but moreso the emotions and hardships of those that must continue without the loved one who passed away.
“‘Danse Macabre’ represents the waking of those difficult memories, while Mozart's ‘Lacrimosa’ deals with the pain those memories bring,” Sedlacek said. “‘Jazz Waltz No. 2’ is the celebration of those who have moved on and joyful memories we have of them. ‘Komm Susser Tod’ by Johann Sebastian Bach is remorse and love. We finish with Grieg's ‘Morning Mood’ in a minor key instead of its usual major.”The show includes props and movements involving graves, keeping with the macabre theme.
“The band returning to the graves at the end of the show, is our way of showing the sadness that comes with continuing on without those we have lost,” Sedlacek said. “While ‘fun’ may not be the center of our show, it has been an enjoyable season. We've enjoyed sharing our story and emotions. Music is best explained through the performance, and our students are an amazing job of portraying this emotional journey.”
A detail in the performance some eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that not only does the band honor the original music by keeping the graveyard setting, but using the gravestones’ dates as a nod to the original composers.
“We placed the composer's names and birth and death dates on the gravestones as a way to pay homage to those individuals who gave us this incredible music to perform,” Sedlacek said. “We hope the props add to the somber and serious nature of the show.”
The Pride of Pampa band has two seniors leading alongside the band directors this year: Analia Oronia and Connor McKinley. “We started with auditions back in early May,” Sedlacek said. “Students came before school at 7 a.m. every morning for a week. We worked on conducting patterns, tempos, and styles and had the students audition to show us that they had the skills necessary to conduct our band.
“We also have every student on our leadership participate in an interview to see which students have a leadership-oriented view of the positions they are applying for. Our Drum Majors must be the top conductors and show the most potential as future leaders in order to be chosen. That isn't to knock down any of our other leadership team members. Every member of our leadership team is chosen and fulfills their duties in order to make our program work.”
Sedlacek said the Pride of Pampa band is fairly young this year, sporting 65 freshmen and sophomores. While this sometimes can lead to some hiccups, this has also opened the door for older students to lead by example. A quality much-needed in a complex production.
“We have 42 sets in our show,” Sedlacek said. “Those sets are broken into 4 movements. Each movement is at a different speed and style. Each set has a different number of steps. Some end in another set, and some end in a hold. Each hold is filled with a visual movement.
“Students have to know every detail of what they are playing, how many steps to take, what speed to take them at, where to face, whether to march forwards or backwards, and what size step they have to take to end up in the next set. They have become a cohesive ensemble that I am proud to show off at football games and marching contests.”
While in the last month or so our region has seen some much-needed relief with the rain and cooler temperatures, the Pride of Pampa had several days practicing in the heat, or indoors in facilities not designed for a marching band.
“The facilities we are using are old and not originally intended for music rehearsals. Those challenges were tough to face,” Sedlacek said. “But the students become stronger with every challenge they overcome. That said, we are excited for our new facilities. It's been great watching them get built.”
Just like any sport, workplace or family unit, spending too much time together can create some issues. But Sedlacek said he has been able to lean on leadership, both young and old, to keep the ship flowing in the right direction.
“The band has spent three months working towards a common goal,” Sedlacek said. “Our drum majors have done a great job of keeping the peace and helping our program to continue in its proper direction. Seniors Brayden Bowley and Gavin Greer are our Loading Crew Captains. They have ensured that all instruments and props make it to every rehearsal and performance. The program relies on them for its success. Our Uniform Crew is in charge of making sure that uniforms are checked out and in every week.
“They keep them organized and make sure uniform parts aren't lost or switched. It's a giant logistical nightmare. Susie Linssen, Avery Udave and Harlow Ray have done a great job making all of those things happen. They allow me to focus on bigger picture issues while they take care of the details.”
Looking ahead to Area, Sedlacek said it won’t be an easy competition as every band has already earned a 1st Division at Region.
“There are 25 bands,” Sedlacek said. “Ten will advance to Area finals, and five will advance to the State Contest. We have been just outside of finals for the last decade, but I am confident going into Saturday.”
As for judging, Sedlacek said there will be a panel of five judges. “Three will judge purely on music,” Sedlacek said. “Two will judge purely on visual. Each judge is allotted 1,000 points spread out over several masteries. The bands will be put in order by judge based on those points. Those placements will be tallied per judge, and then the bands will be ranked based on the total placements. Ten will advance to finals. At finals, each band will perform again. The process will be started over. Five bands will advance to State.”
While the community gets to watch the eight-minute halftime show, Sedlacek encourages the community to remember the work that goes into that eight minutes.
“They don't get to see all of the hours of fundamental practice, music rehearsals, and independent work these students put it,” Sedlacek said. “These students are working to eliminate every mistake and catch every detail for eight full minutes.”
The band will compete at 1:30 p.m. at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo on Saturday. Be sure to come out and support your Pride of Pampa band.