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Band ‘leaves it on the field’, takes home trophies

Lebanon High School marching band measures success by performance, not awards.

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By Marie Rossiter, Staff Writer 1:40 PM Friday, November 6, 2009

The Lebanon High School marching band measures success by the quality of their performances. The rows of trophies in the band room are just icing on the cake, according to drum majors Megan Archer and Shelby Reimer.

“We don’t go into competitions expecting to win anything,” Archer said. “It feels great to win, but we just go on the field and give it our best.”

On Oct. 17, the LHS marching band took first place in all five performance categories in the AAAA division of the Ryle Band Competition in Union, Ky. Band director David Iannelli said the awards were a surprise.

“This is our first year in the division,” Iannelli said. “With 73 playing members, we’re on the smaller side of our division, so that posed some challenges. We were so pleased with the results.”

More than 80 students perform, including band members and the color guard who provide the dance moves and props for each performance.

It takes more than nine months to put each year’s competition show together, according to Iannelli. From the music choices to the choreography, each element is planned so that each student knows exactly where they are and they are doing.

Iannelli and his students practice between seven and nine hours each on a typical week. In addition to music rehearsal, Iannelli leads the students through marching practice, reviews of judges’ critiques and videos of recent performances.

“We’re not like sports where we can play defense,” said Iannelli. “ We can’t prevent other bands from doing well — and we don’t want to. We can only control what we do and how we perform. Then, the chips fall where they may.”

Color guard captain Halee Wright said the hours of hard work are worth it, but not because of how many trophies they win.

“It’s all about what I tell the color guard: go out there, give it all you’ve got and leave it all on the field,” said Wright. “That’s how I know we’ve done a good job.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or mrossiter@coxohio.com.

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