With their eyes on a State Championship win, the Pride of Paoli band is working hard to achieve their goals this year.
This year’s show is called “Angels Among Us.” There are three movements in the show. It starts with statues of angels on pedestals who then come to life and interact with the members of the band. In the second part, the climax of the performance, a large scrim with an image of the sun beaming through clouds will be pulled up to cover the band as the music reaches its peak. During the third movement, which is fast paced and short, the angels will end with very large wings and return to their pedestals. The musical pieces played in the show include “Ballet Sacra” by David R Holsinger and “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Morricone.
After former Head Band Director Ben Werne resigned, the band went through a hiring process and met new potential directors. The band played pieces of music with each one and interviewed them as well. Cory Chapman was eventually chosen to be the new director of the Pride.
“I think this show is great and it gives us a lot of opportunities to showcase the strengths of the band. We have a great hornline with really strong marchers so it lets us do a lot visually,” said Band Director Cory Chapman.
Like last year, the show wasn’t bought from Sunset Scores, a site that marching bands can buy their music from, but written specifically for the band. This year’s show was arranged by Ben Lee, and the drill was written by Eric Berger.
“[Some areas that need to be improved upon throughout the season] are mainly visual elements such as marching style, straight legs, upper body carriage and uniformity in the band choreography. Also some musical elements such as shaping and some stuff that we can attack in a systematic way with the music. Program-wise I think strengthening student leadership, developing a strong system of student leaders and getting involved more out in the community as a program,” said Chapman.
The Pride had their first performance on August 23 at the football game. Their first competition will be on September 14 at Salem High School. They plan to perform movements one and two.
Story By Angie Ceja
