Sep. 26 — MAPLE — Marching season is in full swing at Northwestern High School.
The band spent Tuesday, Sept. 24 marching, playing and practicing different formations in the upper gymnasium.
Their fancy footwork will be on display at the Bayfield Apple Festival parade on Oct. 5 and KBJR’s Christmas City of the North Parade in Duluth on Nov. 21.
“The combination of marching and music is a lot of fun,” said junior Michael Shamla, a saxophone player.
“I love it,” said junior percussionist William Peterson, who sees the parades as a way to showcase the school.
The Tiger band marches in rain, shine or snow. The Christmas parade can throw meteorological curveballs at the students.
“Our valves froze one year and we had to sing,” said senior Hunter Fredrickson who plays French horn.
But, said Peterson, ” I love that one most. No matter how cold it is.”
Bayfield Apple Festival
gives the band not one, but two chances to perform. They’ll march through the route playing an arrangement of the opera piece “Bacchanal,” then climb a hill again to team up with bands from other schools. The “Mass Band” will take a second trip along the parade route playing “On Wisconsin.”
“It’s a great time. Getting up the hill, not so much fun, but performing, yes,” Peterson said.
In addition to musicians, a color guard team of 10 students will also perform.
“It’s a lot of fun and it’s a great parade altogether. Festive and even the other bands are great to see, too, not just Northwestern,” said junior color guard member Kenley Craft.
Band director Michael Hintzman has been teaching at NHS for 32 years. The parade performances date back even further.
“The students work hard and we take the performance seriously,” Hintzman said. “The Bayfield parade and the KBJR parade are the largest exposure, not just for us, the band, but I would argue for any organization group at the school.”
Where else, he asked, will thousands see Northwestern students perform?
“I take representing the school very seriously,” he said, adding that he believes a lot of people get their impression of Northwestern from their marching performances. “We answer that question at the parade. This is us.”
For Hintzman, the school year is a series of beats.
The first week was focused on getting pep band pieces ready to play at the football game. Week two involved a mix of pep band and this year’s apple festival tune. Marching basics started last week.
Tuesday, the group marched, struck a pose and transitioned from lines into a box formation, then back to lines. The maneuvers are meant to make the parade route more evenly paced for the band.
“The parade tends to go slow. We end up having to start and stop, so many years ago many band directors started adding stuff like that into their routines because if we have to start and stop, we’d rather control it,” Hintzman said.
By the end of the week, he said, students would have the piece mostly memorized and be marching outside without sheet music.
Following the festival, the musicians will turn their focus on homecoming tunes, then learn new pieces for the Oct. 27 fall concert. The next time they pull out their marching moves will be in November.
“For the KBJR parade, I’ve used the same tune for that for about 20 years … an arrangement of ‘Joy to the World.’ So then every time when we get to that part of the year, three-quarters of the band can already play the tune,” Hintzman said. “We don’t spend nearly as much time getting ready for that parade.”
