The Tyrone Golden Eagle Marching Band will finish its 2002 season with a final performance Thursday at the ‘Bands in Review Concert’ in the Tyrone Area High School auditorium.
The 2002 season, which began in the hot months of July and August, brought many successes to the Tyrone band. The marching band gave its first field performance of the season at the Bellwood-Tyrone football game on August 30 and its final at Chapter XI Championships held at Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, November 2.
The competitive season included the following shows and awards in Group III competition: Bellefonte – second of three and high music award; Bellwood-Antis – first of two and music, marching, drum major, and auxiliary awards; DuBois – first place and all awards; Conemaugh Township – third of three and drum major and percussion awards; Williamsport – fifth of two and drum major and percussion awards; Chapter Championships – third of three and drum major award.
“The most exciting thing about this season was how close the competition was in our chapter,” said Kris Laird, TAHS band director. “All three bands in Group III (DuBois, Somerset and Tyrone) finished within three-quarters of a point from each other at Chapters.”
Laird continued, “Tyrone finished three hundredths of a point from winning high music at chapters. It was great to be in such a close competition with these other local bands.”
Drum majors, senior Morgann Davis and junior Wendi Taylor had a strong season receiving the award for high drum major at five of the eight competitions.
Taylor said, “I am very proud of the work this year’s band has done. The show wasn’t easy, but it was a lot of fun. I’m glad that we went as far as we did. Even though the season has ended, we’re still going to have fun and continue the friendship we’ve created as a family.”
Davis added, “This was a great season for us to grow as musicians. Our show was challenging, so we had to come together as a team to make it work. We had a great, successful season this year.”
The competitive show this year was entitled ‘The Sea Treaders – In Calm and Storm.’ The music was composed by W. Francis McBeth and was commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the United States Naval Academy. The music depicted the journey of a ship from the calm water of the harbor to the encounter of a storm while at sea. The storm beats and batters the ship as it fights to continue on to its destination. In the end the ship prevails with glory and strength.
“The piece is a very majestic piece that makes you feel good about the strength and undying dedication of our military,” said Laird. “It really was a neat piece for the students to play.”
The band finished the season ranked 33 of more than 60 bands that performed in Group III in all Tournament of Bands circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, New York, and Delaware.
The TAHS Marching Band will bring the 2002 season to a close at the ‘Bands In Review Concert’ along with the high school concert band, high school jazz bands, and middle school band at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium on Thursday. Admission is $1. This concert will have a little bit of everything for everyone from jazz to multi-cultural to rock and concert classics.
Join the award-winning Golden Eagle Marching Band for the final performance of its 2002 show and support the many talents of the students of the Tyrone Area School District.
