BIG WIN: GRC Band named Class A champions
Published 10:11 am Thursday, November 7, 2019
The George Rogers Clark High School marching band won their class Saturday at the 57th annual Contest of Champions in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
“It is the second oldest band contest in the country,” Director Michael Payne said.
The band won first in Class A, with a superior rating and score of 83.75, out of eight bands. The band also placed ninth out of 28 bands and was the second highest scoring Kentucky band out of eight bands.
“This is my seventh year here,” Payne said. “And we started not from scratch. We had a lot going on when I got here, but it’s been quite the rebuilding process. And what’s cool about this show is that when we went down there my first year, we scored in the 50s, got dead last. We did not do well. But then we went again last year, scored in the 70s. We held our head high and did a much better job. We were like 21st out of 28 which is a little better than dead last.
“And then this year, we were ninth out of 28. So much higher. And then there were eight Kentucky bands, we finished the second of all the Kentucky bands there, including beating some of the Kentucky state champions from last year. And then we were first out of eight Class A bands down there, which is the most Class A bands that have been at that show in a while. So just kind of looking at the arc of the last seven years since I’ve been here and then just the arc of the program in general, we’re getting back to some levels that people are familiar with at GRC.”
Payne said the GRC band has been going to the competition since its inception, or at least since the early 1970s.
“They’ve won the whole thing a few times, way back in the day,” Payne said. “But we’ve also won our class several times over the years. This was the first time since 2005 that we’ve gone down there and won our class.”
The students celebrated with a police escort around town Sunday and performed a special standstill encore at Campbell Junior High School Monday.
“These kids have put in so much time, so many hours of work,” Payne said. “With a football game, you have a 50 percent chance of winning. But with this contest, … the odds of winning are one in 28. We went to a couple contests last year with a one in 75 chance of winning… so we define success in some different ways, obviously, when you have that many bands you’re competing against.”
Payne said the students deserve to feel proud about this weekend’s big win.
“But to go out there, and to set a goal that the seniors set last year, which was to go and win our class, and to put a plan in place from the staff and student perspective, that actually made that happen, and for them to see that you can set a high goal, work hard for and meet it, it is a pretty cool thing. And they feel great as they should.”
This year’s marching band season began back in April with conditioning camps for returning members and with interview auditions for new members.
Payne previously told The Sun the band also selected new leadership during April through four weeks of training and clinics.
Throughout the summer, students learned the fundamentals of marching before returning for band camp in late July and starting its season in August.
The band’s membership is up to 108 members this year, with about 30 graduating seniors. Payne said previously it is the largest band GRC has fielded in about eight years
“We’re graduating 30 seniors, that means your work is cut out for you to recruit for the next year and make sure you’ve got new talent coming in,” Payne said. “That’s why we’re here today is to make sure the kids at Campbell know that they’ve got an outstanding tradition they are already a part of. The kids who are in the band, this is their next stepping stone. And then for kids that maybe chose not to join band or never gave it a shot, they’ve got opportunities to join in the color guard program or our drumline. It’s really easy to get kids started in the middle of their school career that way.”
This year’s competition show was called “EDGE” and features many plays and interpretations of the ideas of edges, both literally — sharp looking props — and figuratively — being on edge.
“Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks, “Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga, and “Close to the Edge” by YES were a few of the recognizable songs audiences heard throughout the eight-minute production.
Jasper Carbajal, a senior trumpet player for the band, said it’s only his second year in band at GRC but the experience has been amazing. He said marching band feels like a huge family, and he is considering joining band in college.
“It motivates me to just get up every morning, and it’s going to be a good day,” he said.
Carbajal said he’s happy his senior class was able to experience earning top placements in this weekend’s competition.
“It felt amazing,” Carbajal said. “I really enjoyed it, and I’m really going to miss marching band.”
About Lashana Harney
Lashana Harney is a reporter for The Winchester Sun. Her beats include schools and education, business and commerce, Winchester Municipal Utilities and other news. To contact her, email lashana.harney@winchestersun.com or call 859-759-0015.
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