By Louisa Zheng
Reflections Vol. 46
Novi HS
1st Place
Division 1, Yearbook
Organizations Writing
A gunshot crackle through the stadium as a lone trumpet player staggered backward. In the echoing rumble, senior color guard soloist Lulu Chang dashed across the turf field through the crouched “soldiers” and collapsed onto senior trumpet player Corey Bui, acting as her husband. Chang was left to dance alone among other guard girls spinning with their partners in the center of the formation. With the crash of the cymbals, she threw herself to the ground, representing the family of soldiers who did not return from war.
Senior and drum major Joey Shim awarded the widowed Chang the burial flag, a national tribute to the fallen soldier.
The show was called “In Love and War.” Divided into three main sections, the marching band performed a story of soldiers called to enter the Army, the family left behind, the loss of a life and the celebration upon the Army’s return.
After a three-hour Saturday morning rehearsal in windy, below 40 degree temperatures, the marching band boarded four buses to finish its competitive season on Ford Field in Detroit at the 2013 State Championship Contest Nov. 2. Placed in Flight I, Novi competed against the 11 highest scoring bands in the state, hoping to get in the top six.
“I wasn’t freaking out,” junior baritone section leader Tanvi Prabhakar said. “I was very mellow, I knew what I had to do, I knew exactly what I was going to do and I knew that I was going to deliver.”
The marching band entered the competition in eighth place and placed seventh. Senior and pit section leader Evan Leffert said despite the difficulties and final result, this year’s marching season was the best he’s ever had.
“I think the biggest thing was just that we were all kinda supporting each other,” Leffert said. “It especially felt that way when we got to Ford Field, because sometimes with marching band you get different groups of people that are all separate.
“But this year it seemed a lot like those circles of friends were much more connected. It all seemed like we wanted the same thing out of marching band which is the most important thing. This year we all genuinely felt like we could do very well.”
Junior and color guard captain Shirley Che also said the marching band community felt closer this year.
“The years before, we’ve had the color guard and then the band,” Che said. “Whereas this year we’re more intertwined – especially for the second song, which is the sad part. “If we don’t sell it, then the audience won’t feel what we want them to feel and this show kinda rides on the emotion that we want them to feel.”