Recap of the Marching Band Season

by: Emma Hubley, 10th Grade

BRHS Marching Band performing at the MLK Day Parade.

Out of all the possible activities in high school, marching band is often not the first one that comes to mind, but the efforts of the students and faculty should not go unrecognized. Braden River’s five time state champion marching band, the Marching Band of Pirates, has been competing since 2005, originally in the Bands of America (BOA) organization, then switching between the Florida Marching Band Championships (FMBC) and the Bands of America (BOA) organizations.

This year, there were obstacles during the marching band season, specifically Hurricane Ian. Cliff Dawson, the BRHS Band Director, explains that he thought the comeback for MBOP went tremendously well. He uses their final competition as a further explanation: “Take into account specifically our final run - which was in a monsoon” he laughed, “being able to overcome challenges has become partial to what we do.”

This season's show titled “The Lessons We Learned” greatly differed from last year's show, “Renewal.” The band that performed the 2021 show “Renewal," was not the band who was intended to perform it. Every year, the marching band at Braden River High gets their show written specifically for how many people are on each instrument and what their capabilities are. Last year's show wasn’t intended to be performed by that group of students - it was designed for the ones the year prior. Dawson mentions how members often wear the clothes that their older siblings once wore. “They look great in it, it fits them well; you try it on and it doesn’t work as well, but you feel really special in it.” He explains that while last year's band had issues living up to the potential of what the show was, this year's drill was written for and performed by the intended band, which made it a much better fit and set the band up for success.

BRHS Marching Band huddle together before community night performance for friends and family.

BRHS Marching Band performing a show at Manatee High School's MPA (Music Performance Assessment) Competition.

Dawson states that he has high hopes for next year. "Do I have moments where I’m being critical of what goes on? You bet. But hope is the number one quality in humans that we must never leave or lose, because without it, what’s the point? Why are we doing this?”

Dawson encourages students to join marching band by saying every activity in high school has its own unique experience. "If you do sports you’re on a team; if you do JROTC, you’re part of a team and a big organization… in music what we like about it is that you get the opportunity to express yourself as part of a team.” He further states, “In a team just one person can make a difference; in what we do, no one person can really make a difference but yet every single person is equally important…. There’s no bench riding, no getting subbed out - you are part of what goes on and there’s no other activity on campus that has that experience.”