The Trojan Marching Band competed in The Mustang Music Bowl Oct. 7 marking their first competition in roughly 20 years. The event was held at DGS and the Trojans came in fifth place in the AAA division.
The marching band was passed onto Jessen Smith after Fine Arts Department chairperson and band director Brayer Teague stepped down from directing the marching band in 2019, followed by his retirement in 2023. Smith chose to transition the band from playing at football games and assemblies to participating in competitions.
“Originally, I was a bit skeptical of how other people would feel about the competition, but I was also excited for an opportunity to do something new in marching band,” senior drum major John Fioti said.
While many band students were thrilled to take on the challenge of competing, others prefer performing at home football games and felt the competition was a large time commitment.
“As someone who just wants to have fun with marching band, competing introduces a whole new level of seriousness that I wasn’t looking forward to,” senior sousaphone player Ryan Powers said.
The Trojans were analyzed by ten judges who focused on performance and skill rather than listening for enjoyment. They based the marching band’s scores off visual performance, music performance, general effect, and percussion. The pressure of playing for a panel of judges can create a more intense environment for band members.
“The energy of the band seemed to be a lot more serious than it would be during the football games. The majority of people in the band seem to have more fun with the experience during football games than with the competition,” Powers said.
According to Smith, the goals and presentation for competition are different from what is traditional for a halftime show. Smith created a show that would be the best of both worlds that would be well received by both the fans at football games and competition judges.
“The football crowd responds to recognizable music, pop music- things the audience will latch onto and respond to,” Smith said. “And for competition, you’re trying to create something that’s a little bit more sophisticated in terms of design. The judges were looking more in-depth to see the drill and formations.”
Smith chose to compete in the Music Bowl to give band students an unforgettable experience, one where the audience is incredibly supportive and appreciative of the
music played.
“There will be rankings and there will be scores, but the best part about it is that it’s very different from a meet or a game in an athletic sense, because everyone there, they’re just all band kids,” Smith said. “The crowd is such an amazing crowd to play for, because they are very intently listening and cheering at times when they think something is cool.”
The competition was almost six hours long, most of the time was spent observing other performances. The Trojans had roughly two minutes to set up equipment and performed for a little less than seven minutes.
“I think considering it was our first competitive experience we did a fantastic job. Many people were surprised that it was our first competition because of how we presented ourselves,” Fioti said.
2021 DGN graduate and band alumni, Owen Nystrom, claims the added competition will provide students with challenging opportunities and add something unique to marching band.
“I had mixed feelings when I heard the TMB was doing a competition. I do believe that some students will have a chance to shine if the band plays more advanced material and marches more complex drills. Having seasoned former DCI and college marching band members for a band staff, something we’re very lucky to have in Downers Grove, it’s almost inevitable the change would happen at some point,” Nystrom said.
