By Mandy Bourgeois | Published Thursday, October 22, 2009
Two area high school marching bands will compete at Saturday's area competition in Birdville after receiving superior ratings at a marching contest hosted in Denton last weekend.
The bands will march at Birdville Fine Arts Center, with Boyd performing at 2:30 p.m. and Paradise at 5:30.
Boyd and Paradise marching bands advanced from regional competition held at Collins Stadium Saturday. Both bands received the best possible rating from three judges.
This year, 1A, 2A and 4A bands are able to advance in marching contest.
Boyd's marching program is called "To Dance in the Secret Garden" and is based on the first book of the Bible.
"We wanted to do a show based on the first chapter of Genesis," said Boyd band director Russell Brown. "We searched for music that would fit that theme that we're looking for."
Brown and his assistant directors, Anthony King and Billy Hazard, built the program around music by Robert W. Smith.
"We actually wrote the composer and publisher and we were able to get exclusive rights to the music for this year," Brown said.
Brown and Hazard modified the concert piece to fit marching style and King penned the percussion.
"It's a very exciting program," Brown said. "It's a lot of fun to do."
Paradise's marching program features three Russian pieces. Director William Alz said that his students had a lot of say in picking the music for this year's program.
"Four or five of my seniors wanted to do a Russian show," he said. "It's turned out to be a nice show for us and the idea came from the students."
The show features Russian Sailor's Dance by Gliere, a composition by Polo Douris from "The Hunt for Red October" and Night on Bald Mountain by Moufsorsky.
Both bands met some obstacles since the beginning of marching season, from torrential rain to sickness.
"We had to overcome a lot of adversity, particularly the weather," Alz said, saying that the band missed several practices because of rainy weather and soggy ground. "We did probably our best show of the season (Saturday). The judges were real complimentary and all of them gave us the top rating."
Boyd has been plagued by sickness and injuries, but Brown was proud of how his team performed at contest.
"We've had a lot of obstacles this year. One of our kids is in a wheelchair and three are on crutches. They've had swine flu," he said. "But they pulled together and had a great performance at the right time."
Bridgeport, Alvord and Chico bands also marched at Saturday's contest. Bridgeport received a first division rating for the fourth consecutive year. Bridgeport's show was based on "The Wizard of Oz."
Alvord received a 2 and Chico received a 4.
Decatur and Northwest bands were to compete Wednesday at Northwest ISD Stadium.
