GRAND ISLAND — The Grand Island Senior High Islander Band will be performing “Imagine” for the 2025 marching band season.
The GISH marching band was found on the turf at Memorial Field during the morning of Friday, Sept. 5 learning their individual spots on the field for their marching drill.
Band Director Evan Lee, PhD., was directing the students from the stands as they learned their places on the field and how long they had to get there.
Lee said this year the band numbers 200, including percussion and color guard members. There are three drum majors directing the band this year, seniors Cael Wiegert, Holdan Wemhoff and junior Morgan Becker.
Lee said the band is younger this year, with 72 incoming freshmen.
This year the band is performing a show called “Imagine”, which was composed by Lee and features music from John Lennon’s “Imagine, Chuck Mangione’s “Land of Make Believe,” and David Guetta’s “I Can Only Imagine.”
Lee said the show is three movements and it will invoke how our imagination changes over the years, from children playing make-believe on the playground at recess to adulthood. Audiences can expect emotional highs and lows, with a bit of joy, self-reflection and celebration too.
Drum major Morgan Becker said that this year the band has a good grasp of the music and has been implementing it quickly into their field marching.
Holdan Wemhoff said the band seems to enjoy the music and find that it has been flowing well during their early practices.
When asked about what the drum majors have learned directing the band, Becker said that rather than focusing on one spot on the field if she was playing, she is seeing the formations and how it all meshes together in real time.
Wemhoff said the drum majors cannot know everything about the show and drill, but he has found section leaders or other students who can help address specific issues as they appear while the show and drill are being learned.
Lee told the band during practice that the repetition of going back to spots in the show over and over again will pay off later. He encouraged them to make small corrections each time they did a run through – if everyone fixed something, the show itself would improve as a result.
The band will be in uniform for the first home football game on Sept. 12.
The GISH Islander Band will take part in five different competitions this season.
The first event will be UNK Band Day in Kearney on Sept. 20, with a street march downtown.
The band will be able to stay home when the calendar turns to October, they will take part in the 83rd Harvest of Harmony parade and field competition on Saturday, Oct. 4.
The third competition will be the Elkhorn Sounds of Excellence Marching Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 11.
The penultimate competition the marching band will take part in is the 44th annual Lincoln Public Schools Marching Band Invitational at Seacrest Field on Saturday, Oct. 18. “Lincoln Public Schools is proud to be a part of fostering growth for your young performers as they polish their skills for state marching contest,” LPS stated.
The final competition of the season will be the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association State Marching Contest, on Saturday, Oct. 25. The GISH band will be performing at the east festival site at Seacrest Field in Lincoln.
“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.
Join the GISH Islander Marching Band in imagining the possibilities as they perform during the 2025 season.
