Marching Band Success at Hofstra

Ben Winston, Business Manager

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The Marching Band preping for their performance at Ward Melville’s pep rally.

On October 16, the Ward Melville Marching Band competed in the 51st annual Newsday Marching Band Festival at Hofstra University. The seventy-five member marching band showcased its talents amongst numerous other bands from all over Long Island. Rehearsals for the event began before the school year started, with weekly two- hour rehearsals and additional practice hours.

This year the marching band performed James Bond styled songs such as the classic James Bond theme song, “Skyfall” by Adele and a medley of other popular Bond tunes. There were several featured solos, including a duet by trombonists Henry Lane and Anthony Gabrielle. Gabrielle, a senior, enjoyed hearing the results of everyone’s efforts.

He remarked, “It was very rewarding. It was nice to see the end result of many hours of hard work.” His favorite aspect of the band’s performance was the connection between the music and the marching. The band followed a city-street marching technique, in which the instrumentalists were divided into two adjacent columns. The two lines would move in opposite directions before returning back to the original position. The satisfaction of the performance after hours of dedication to musical rehearsal and marching, echoed throughout the group.

Sylvia Chen, one of the three drum majors, conducted the band for several songs. She commented, “The Newsday Festival is the night we worked months for, and standing from that tall podium at Hofstra I saw all of our hard work instantly pay off with an incredible ten minute show.”

Ward Melville received a trophy and recognition for its impressive performance. The Newsday Marching Band Festival will be televised on Thanksgiving. Tune in to watch the highlights!