Band begins preparing for next year’s competition season
Provided by the Ford Center video production
From the Ford Center, to Kuykendall Stadium, band director Jamie Weaver has led the Redhawks through countless shows at dozes of stadiums. Now after 30 years of teaching, Weaver is retiring at the end of the 2023-24 school year. “I can only hope I have had any impact,” Weaver said. “I think teaching is more archaeology and less gardening: we only help students discover what’s already buried somewhere inside themselves, most of the planting and nurturing comes from home and upbringing.”
November 5, 2020
Band performances are a staple of Redhawk football games. But while the football team is competing on a weekly basis, the band isn’t. Canceling the competition season due to COVID-19 restrictions, band has had to adjust their practices to adhere to the new restrictions and safety requirements. But this year’s change could be a positive one next year.
“The reduction in practice time is the direct result of not having competition season this year,” band director Jamie Weaver said. “However, we have actually started preparing for next year’s competitive season, so the show for next year is already done putting us further ahead than we normally are.”
With the football season starting a month later than usual, practice is somewhat different compared to last year.
“Our main disadvantage is that we had to start marching season later than usual and we only rehearse twice a week,” junior Adrian George said via email. “However, an advantage for us is that practice is only two hours long compared to three hours during the summer.”
Another challenge the band has come across is forming connections and mingling with one another.
“This year there is a bit of a disconnection between the leadership team and the freshmen/new individuals,” Kanar said. “We are trying to work through this by having virtual section socials which are hang out sessions that are student-organized for each specific instrument group as well as socially distanced in-person socials (with masks).”
Despite the new protocols, the band has been able to quickly adapt to the changes when preparing for the football season.
“Several individuals have been communicating whenever they do not understand specific topics and all of the freshmen are very fast learners,” drum major senior Jia Kanar said via email. “In terms of procedure, everything is running very smoothly, the other members of the leadership team have been incredibly helpful and communicative.”
Although there are many constraints during practice, practices remain useful.
“I think that practices are effective,” drum major senior Jade Radford said via email. “Spacing and wearing a mask is super crucial to everyone’s health and I think that regulating that at all times is the most effective way to ensure safety while still having fun.”
