User:Oddityoverseer13/WJHS Bands/Marching Band

Marching Band

The marching band program at West is headed by M. Lance Britt, David S. Duffy, and Garrett Griffin. The band has performed in many local, regional and national events. The band has competed in the Bands of America Grand Nationals many times. In 2007 they placed 15 of approximately 90 competing bands from across the country. The band was also chosen to represent the state and march in the 2005 inaugural parade for President George W. Bush.

The WJHS marching band is an academic course at the high school and is available in the fall semester. "With hard work and dedication, anything is possible".

A New Era (2002)

This group was established in the fall of 2002, when the high school opened. The head director at the time was M. Lance Britt. Most members at this time came from other schools, and had varying amounts of experience. The first class defined the standards by which the following classes would have to be compared against.

Following years (2003-2007)

In the next few years, the group performed the following shows:

• H2O: The Properties of Water(2003)
  • Placed 10th at the Johnston City Regional in Tennessee
  • This was director David S. Duffy's first year at West
  • Undefeated in NC
• A Rock, A River, A Tree (Based upon On the Pulse of the Morning by Maya Angelou)(2004)
  • Competed at Grand Nationals in Indianapolis, and placed 21st in semi-finals
  • Placed 7th in the NJ regional at Rutgers Stadium
  • Marched for the 55th Inaugural Parade (George Bush's 2nd term)
  • Undefeated in NC
• All the World's a Stage (Based on the writings of William Shakespeare)(2005)
  • First graduating class from WJHS
  • 7th in the Florida Regional
  • 21st at Grand Nationals
  • Undefeated in NC
• Declaration (Based on the Declaration of Independence)(2006)
  • 3A Champions, 4th overall in the Towson, Maryland Regional
  • Performed and exhibition show at the Fort Mills, SC Regional
  • 17th in semi-finals at Grand Nationals
  • One loss in NC, due to a time penalty
• The Martian Chronicles (based upon the book by Ray Bradbury) (2007)
  • Entire music selection based upon Amin Bhatia’s Interstellar Suite
  • 3A Champions at the Towson regional
  • Placed 15th at Grand Nationals. (Note: This was the last time WJHS band performed in the RCA Dome, due to demolition.)
  • Garrett Griffin's first year working as an assistant-director at West

The Inner Compass (2008)

The Inner Compass was a show based on people making decisions based on their inner compass. The drill depicted many images of compasses pointing west. All the music for this show was composed from the Broadway Musical/movie West Side Story. During this season, West traveled to Maryland to compete in the Towson Regional, where they were awarded Grand Champion. For financial reasons, they did not travel to Grand Nationals. In November, after having been undefeated once again, they traveled to New York City to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where they performed their show Boogie Wonderland to the music of Earth, Wind & Fire.