M-S Marching Band learning “Balance of Power”

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com

The 201 students in the 2019 Mahomet-Seymour Marching Band have spent their week learning about balance.

Like with all life lessons, mastery of balance cannot be achieved during five days’ time, but clarinet, trombone, flute, saxophone and drummers, among others, have been hard at work from 8 a.m. to noon and from 5 to 8:30 p.m. each day this week.

“So far the weather has been great and we’ve got a lot done,” Band Director Michael Stevens said.

By week’s end, the band will have learned 20 to 25 of their 30 charts for the “Balance of Power” opener. Stevens said the group has the opener, “Khan” by Julie Giroux, memorized.

“So far we have a strong group of section leaders who are leading by example, and are working hard to keep everybody motivated and on the same page,” Stevens said.

“It’s nice when you have a good freshmen class come in.”

The marching band will move away from the storytelling performance they have showcased in recent years and come into something more conceptual with this show.

Stevens said balance will be shown during their field imagery with props, choreography and the woodwinds and brass playing off each other.

Following “Khan,” the band will move into “October” by Eric Whitacre and then “Gladiator” from the movie Gladiator.

They will also mix things up a bit, taking the yin yang symbol from white and black to orange and blue while also wearing their school-issued marching band uniforms.

“So far, I like what I see,” Stevens said.

As always, Mahomet-Seymour will finish perfecting their performance in September when the band stays overnight at Allerton.

The Bulldogs will travel to Eastern Illinois University, Illinois Wesleyan, the University of Illinois and St. Louis, for the Bands of America contest, before beginning to prepare for their trip to the Fiesta Bowl in December.