NFA holds Classic Band Festival
Oct. 8—NORWICH — Nearly two hours before the start of the 28th Classic Band Festival at Norwich Free Academy on Friday evening, members of the NFA Wildcat Marching Band wrapped up their practice on the football field, band members in custom-printed tops with the ruins of Atlantis and color guard members dressed like Greek gods and goddesses.
Atlantis is a new theme, band director Kristen Motola said, after themes such as space, dreams and revolution.
The bands from Joseph Case High School in Swansea, Mass., and Manchester High School would soon arrive and start stretching on Chelsea Parade.
These three bands were among the nine performing, along with the marching bands from Ledyard, Fitch, Plainfield, East Lyme, East Haven and Rocky Hill high schools. There were originally 12 bands scheduled to participate last Saturday but the competition was postponed due to rain.
NFA performed in exhibition while the other eight competed in different classes. Six judges marked the bands on specific categories, such as music, percussion and color guard.
Successfully carrying at least four flutes and a clarinet before the program began, band captain Avery Juhola stopped to chat with her twin sister, drum major Kylie. The seniors started off marching in Block Island parades, inspired by their older twin sisters.
It's also a family affair for senior Joe Cook. His father is a percussion instructor and his mother, a teacher, who marched in the band. Cook was a trumpet player but started playing trombone last year and is now trombone section leader.
The NFA band has 73 members this year, 40 of whom are brand new.
"The one constant is the kids are working really hard, they support each other, and they strive for excellence," Motola said.
With the NFA Chamber Choir's rendition of the National Anthem and the announcer's exhortation that "we're going to have a raucous time," the Manchester High School Marching Band took the field and kicked off the evening with a "Pirates of the Caribbean" themed performance.
The Ledyard Colonel Marching Band then took the field for their I Spy themed performance with a plot of James Bond falling for a heist perpetrator. Drum major Henry Denton and color guard co-captain Brook Grant, in a silver lame bodysuit, sang parts of "Skyfall," amid instrumentation, dancing and voiceovers about the stolen diamond.
The Fitch High School Falcon Marching Band rolled lounge, library, billiards and kitchen backdrops onto the field for their "A Night at Falcon Manor" performance.
Color guard members dressed as detectives moved about the sets and the band members, wearing silver sparkly sashes over their red and black uniforms, and a few musicians wearing pants color-coordinated to the characters of Clue.
Like a family
NFA sophomore Atlas Corey joined this year after taking a color guard class in school last year, saying she's made so many friends and "it's like a family." It's a theme you'll hear from other marching band students.
"We're a sport and a class and a club and a musical ensemble," Motola said. "It's almost like seeing a Broadway show on a football field."
Some people in the Ledyard band, about 60 strong this year, drew some of the distinctions that make marching band competitions so special. Denton, a senior, said people are here to see you — not the football, not the cheerleaders.
Ledyard band director Zach Thomas thinks band competitions are great because of the support from other bands and the audience: "The other teams cheer for us," he said.
Ledyard has long had a marching band but only started competing in 2019, and this is the first year the program has had a color guard.
"It's flag and dance, is basically what it is, and all of our choreography goes along with the music," explained Grant, a senior. Thomas said the art form has evolved so much, and moved from a military look to something much more colorful.
Thomas said he talks about the process and not the results, and that marching band gives so many overarching life lessons.
"When you focus on the process, you make good art," Denton said, "and that is the most important aspect of what we do, is the art in it."
