The Redhawks marching band was in full bloom Saturday with their performance of their show, Padma, as they took seventh place in the UIL Area B competition at Melissa High School, adding another title to the band’s best season in recent Redhawk history.
“I think we were pretty comfortable making it to the first round, just because we knew we had a good product and the kids were executing very well,” band director Ana Hinojosa-Santi said. “And then when we got off the field, the waiting process was probably the most intense because it took around four hours for us to find out if we advanced. And [the directors] didn’t find out until minutes before [the students] did. So it wasn’t until we got that sheet of paper and [saw that] our name was up there [that] for the first time I took a deep breath because I think I was holding my breath the entire time. So it was pretty exciting seeing us up there because we were the underdogs. There were people who were not expecting us to be where we were at. So it was a pretty great feeling.”
The success of the Redhawks band was seemingly long in the making in Hinojosa-Santi’s perspective, who attributed the band’s accomplishment to the sheer amount of practice and preparation students underwent in the multiple months leading up to competition.
“It started from late July, where they came in and we started the preparation of just getting our bodies ready to go through the actual process,” Hinojosa-Santi said. “Then the preparation for the show started in early August, so I think a lot of people think it’s like we just do preparation with after school practices, but preparation also includes their mental state of mind whenever they had to work on their confidence level, how to compete, and what [the judges] look for. ”
But Hinojosa-Santi also believes that the Redhawks’ triumph was also the product of the resilience and unique nature of both the students and the program itself.
“These kids are so resilient, they’re so dedicated and committed to this program, and that makes it easy to kind of guide them to where we wanted them to go,” Hinojosa-Santi said. “To be honest, we used our community and our kids’ talents [to stand out]. For us to have a carnatic singer and tabla player, no one’s ever done that and it’s unique to our show and made us pretty memorable—and they’re fantastic musicians. So for us to kind of start the show that way, I think it intrigued the judges so that they’ll actually pay attention because it’s a lot of bands, sometimes you get lost in the number game. So I think that kind of made us very very memorable, by using those elements.”
For students like drum major, senior Angie Fei, the band’s success will extend beyond this year.
“It was just amazing,” Fei said. “Especially the seniors this year, we started that trend just with like our passion, dedication, and I think that will leave a legacy on especially the freshmen cause this is all they know, so they’re going to want to push to be like that, be like us, and have that high expectation for the rest of their four years.”
The moment where that stress transformed into excitement and happiness was when competition results were announced.
“I was shaking the entire time cause I was just waiting for our name to be called and I was preparing myself to be disappointed,” Fei said. “But then when they called Liberty, I kinda flinched and then I snapped into drum major mode, but the screams from the stands, they were insane. It was so loud and they went on for so long and everyone was just happy.”
But for senior Dermot Chester, stress was never a component of the equation.
“I felt really calm, honestly,” Chester said. “Cause I knew, we already did the BOA thing, and[…] that was so much fun to me cause we haven’t done that ever before. It was the first time in Liberty history that we actually won our class. So going into that, I was okay with whatever happened. And, dude, getting finals, oh that peaked my night. That peaked my night. Oh, it was so much fun, it was so good. Everyone was screaming, everyone was happy. I was honestly overjoyed for that day.”
But despite their unexpected achievement, the band’s success over the weekend gave rise to mixed feelings for Chester.
“This show was a lot harder and this year was a lot harder, so it means a lot more to us because it was so much more competitive,” Chester said. “We beat out Memorial, Reedy in the prelims. It’s just so… how do I say this? It’s the climax of everything I’ve done now. This is my last thing, the last thing I can show. It’s so happy, it’s so much. I’m overjoyed and just extremely saddened at the same time cause I can’t do anything else. That’s it. That’s my last one ever.”
In Hinojosa-Santi’s eyes, though, one thing is for certain. Despite the plethora of feelings experienced on that day by students and teachers alike, the most noteworthy was the students’ continued resilience.
“There were a lot of emotions, knowing that we had done everything we could at that point,” Hinojosa-Santi. “So for [the students] to exceed all expectations was just, I think, pretty memorable and emotional just because not only did they have a fantastic run, it was just the fact that they kept getting better and better and they never gave up. And the smiles on their faces after they walked off the field was the best part. So, [I’m] very happy for this transition being new and them welcoming me was just like a Cinderella story.”
