Marching Warriors’ show centers on building a home

Friday October 23, 2015 1:10 PM

In this year’s competition show, Westerville North High School marching band members are showing audiences what it means to build a home.

The show, “To Build a Home,” explores the themes of constructing a house as well as figuratively creating a home.

The first piece of music employed is John Adams’ The Chairman Dances, which has a lot of mechanical sounds that symbolize the construction of a house, according to band director Jordi Vilanova.

The show also includes the ballad Home from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz, and closes with the song To Build a Home, which Vilanova said “wraps up everything.”

Throughout the performance, the color guard uses a large prop of a house plus flags that feature blueprints, houses and hearts.

The 85 marching band students began practicing at the beginning of May. Rehearsals continued throughout the summer, leading up to band camp in the third week of July at Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp in Jackson.

The leaders of the band worked together to craft a mission statement for the season: “Because we are a family with a common goal, the 2015 Westerville North Marching Band will be the best we can be by combining our strengths ‘To Build A Home.’ “

Vilanova said the band’s motto is “Be your best” and this advice has helped the students succeed.

“The kids are always really hardworking and I’m very fortunate to have dedicated kids,” Vilanova said. “We’ve been relatively successful year after year and I know they’ve got what it takes to succeed.”

The marching Warriors will compete at the Colerain Invitational in Cincinnati at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. They also will present the show during halftime of the home football game against Westerville South on Oct. 30.

The Westerville North marching band will finish its season at the Mid-State Band Association championships on Nov. 7 and are scheduled to travel to Walt Disney World Feb. 10-14, 2016.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/westerville/news/2015/10/21/marching-warriors-show-centers-on-building-a-home.html