The Chesterton High School Trojan Guard Marching Band traveled to Goshen, Indiana this past Saturday to participate with 11 other northern Indiana bands in the Goshen High School Crimson Invitational.
The Open Class “A” competition was won by the CHS Trojan Guard with a 60.20, an unusually high score for this part of the season. The CHS band also received two of the three highly coveted caption awards for their high score in General Effect, and Visual Performance.
Second place was captured by the “Tiger’s Pride” of Warsaw with a score of 59.65 and this group also received the caption award for Best Music Performance, third place to Blazer Brigade of Elkhart Central High School with a score of 58.65, and fourth place to Elkhart Memorial’s Crimson Charger Band with 54.85.
This early season invitational is a precursor to the upcoming Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) competitions that will begin in early October. The results of the ISSMA competitions will then decide which groups will qualify to perform in Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, November 7 as part of the ISSMA State Marching Band Championship event.
Entitled “A Brave New World,” this year’s Trojan Guard Field Show is an artistic representation of a simpler time in America’s past, the trials that currently test us, and a celebration of the American Spirit and the bright days that undoubtedly lie ahead for the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. The four movement production features adaptations of two well-known concert pieces including: ‘American Faces,’ written by David Holsinger for the concert band, and ‘Casus Belli’ composed by Andrew Boysen Jr. for the symphony orchestra. Additional material includes arrangements of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ originally composed for the pop/rock band of the 80’s known as “Tears for Fears,” and later adapted as part of the music score for the Lions Gate Entertainment movie release of “The Hunger Games.” The Trojan Guard closes their production with a flag waving original composition by composer Key Poulan entitled, “Let Freedom Ring.”
The 94 students in the Trojan Guard include: Amera Abuhakmeh, Victoria Adams, Keyon Allen, Bianca Alvarez, Hailey Ayala, Mariah Bement, Abby Billings, Kris Bodie, Brian Bolin, Trey Bonnema, Dive Bridegroom-Drum Major, Sariah Brimberry, Aaron Brookhouse, Katie Budzius, Andrew Cernick, Emily Cernick, Belle Chandler, Madison Comfort, Mercedes Cooper, Dakota Cummins, Nick Dericco, Tristan Dooley, Annabelle Engel, Dani Else, Jacob Espinoza, Laura Estridge, Victoria Evans, Andrew Figg, Riley Franklin, Sailor Franklin, Toby Franklin, Jessica Fuller, Izabelle Galvin-Ellis, David Gerth, Anthony Hampton, James Hawley, Ally Henry, Nathan Herr, Hailey Hickey, David Hodgkiss, Loren Hodgkiss, Mark Hodgkiss, Brandon Jackett, Curtis Jones, Hollie Jones, Jack Jones, Holly Kittredge, David Kosakowski, Nate Kravitz, Anthony Langley, Olivia Lee, Shania Lubarski, Jackson Lucken, Hannah Maluvac, Madison McCall, Nathan McCall, Shaye McCarthy, Reagan McCoy, Taylor McElheny, Clare McNicholas, Elissa McNicholas, Abby Morris, Kaylee Mullins, Madison Muszynski, Violet Needham, Eli Ontiveros, Spencer Ostrega, Fred Owens, Bryan Pamintuan, Joel Peterson, Nathan Poczekay, Nolan Poczekay, Jocelyn Rattray, Lysette Rattray, Dylan Rodriguez, Zach Royko, Samantha Runions, Joe Sabol, Kylie Sabol, Sydney Sarver, Delaney Schavey, Danny Schmiegel, Chris Sexton, Ashley Shideler, Emily Soblotne, Colin St. Mary, Natalie Stemler, Ayssa Thompson, Hunter Torres, Alissa VanNoort, Jacob Weitzel, Brooke Wilson, Harley Wines and Jacob Winland.
The Trojan Guard is under the direction of Michael Scheiber with assistance by Vincent Arizzi. Additional staff includes Lisa Scheiber, color guard director; and Jeff Wroblewski, drill design. For additional information regarding the Trojan Guard, or any band activity, please contact the CHS Music Department at 983-3730.
The next competition for the Trojan Guard will be Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Minutemen Invitational hosted by Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana. The next local performance by the band will be at the CHS football pre-game festivities on Friday, Sept. 18 when the Golden Trojans take on the Vikings of Valparaiso High School.