KEARNEY — The Kearney High School Bearcat Marching Band will be donning their uniforms and taming the show “Dragons” this marching band season.
The members of the marching band were found where they are most mornings in the fall, on the practice field prior to sunrise.
On Friday, Aug. 23, the band and the cheerleaders were practicing their pre-game performance before moving into practicing the visuals of their show.
Band Director Nathan LeFeber was up in the press box directing the students to different places during the second movement. Director Rick Mitchell was on the field helping with the drill.
The Bearcat Marching Band is comprised of 150 students, Mitchell said, including the drumline, pit and color guard members.
Speaking about what stood out about this year’s group, Mitchell said their retention ability is high and the freshman class has a great deal of energy.
The band camp for the group was broken down into two different sessions, one in late June and early July that focused on the marching band fundamentals with the freshman and the leadership team underwent 20 hours of training.
The next session was held the first week of August. Mitchell said that the band’s drill writer was able to attend, and the students were able to get the first movement on the field.
The Kearney marching band is performing “Dragons,” composed by Rob Stein, with percussion by Trent Gronewold and Eric Shriver.
“The dragon appears as a creature of legend in almost every culture. Using incredibly thematic and intense original music, combined with “Taking Flight,” (based on music from the movie “How to Train Your Dragon,”) this show explores these myths and their meaning,” according to the Standing O Marching website.
Mitchell said the show is four movements and said that, given the theme, several of the movements are energetic and aggressive. He did note movement two is more melodic.
The first movement is called, “Awakening.”
“The performance begins with a voice echoing in the distance, and a backfield build which leads into an Earth-shaking impact. The rest of the production uses ancient Celtic themed melodies and powerful, rhythmic impacts to express the Dragon’s fearsome presence,” per the Standing O Marching website.
“Taking Flight,” is the title of the second movement, which features a French horn solo accompanied by a small brass group at the start of the production. The melody then expands to the full band.
The penultimate movement is called, Dragon Fire.”
“Fast, driving tempos and dark features set the stage as the Dragon’s fire wreaks havoc upon the Earth,” per the website.
“Between the Sky and Earth,” is the final movement and recaps melodies from throughout the show.
The Kearney marching band will be taking part in five different competitions this season.
The first event will be Saturday, Sept. 21, with the UNK Band Parade and the Bearcat Marching Festival, hosted at KHS.
The following weekend, the band will travel on Saturday, Sept. 28 for the Columbus Marching Band Festival.
Heading into October, Kearney will travel down Highway 30 to Grand Island to take part in the 82nd annual Harvest of Harmony Parade and field competition on Saturday, Oct. 5.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, the band will travel to South Dakota for the Quad State Marching Competition.
The final competition of the season will be the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association State Marching Contest, on Saturday, Oct. 26. The west festival site will be hosted at KHS.
Kearney was able to earn a division one, superior, rating during last year’s state contest.
“Bands compete in an open class event although individual class champions are announced and presented with an award. All participating bands receive a placement award and caption awards are presented for Best Percussion, Best Auxiliary, Best Music, Best Visual and Best Effect,” according to the NSBA website.
In addition to the competitions, the Kearney marching band will be performing pre-game festivities prior to Friday night football games and their show at halftime.
Hear the roar of “Dragons” by attending a performance of the KHS Marching Band this fall.
