Prospect HS marching Knights take grand trophy
For the 27th time, Prospect High School's Marching Knights brought home the grand championship trophy from the Illini Marching Band Festival, held last weekend in Champaign.
The Knights took first place in Class 5A and first overall for general effect in music and visuals. but also finished first among all 22 bands in Class 4A, 5A and 6A.
The state trophy capped an undefeated season so far, but they have no time to rest on their laurels.
This weekend the Knights travel to Illinois State University in Normal for the State of Illinois Invitational Marching Band Championships, where last year they placed third.
“You have all the best bands in the state in one place and on one field,” says Chris Barnum, Prospect band director. “We're looking forward to it. It's really exciting.”
For starters, they will go up against the nationally ranked Marian Catholic Marching Band, which has gone undefeated in its class since 1980, as well as marching bands from Wheeling, Wheaton Warrenville, Lake Park, Warren Township and Naperville Central, to name a few.
On Wednesday, the Knights polished their routine during the 50-minute class time, and then came back at night for another three hours.
“We're just trying to get rid of the individual errors,” Barnum says. “It's the little things that can really add up.”
This year's show, “Away Above the Chimney Tops,” opens with an arrangement of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and builds to include “1,000 Airplanes on the Roof,” by contemporary composer Philip Glass, as well as “Septimus” by Andy Brown and the familiar piano piece, “Clair de Lune” by Claude Debussy.
“It's a beautiful piece of music, that is very familiar to people in the audience,” says senior drum major Christopher Enter of Des Plaines. “Every group on the field carries the melody, from the front percussion ensemble in the beginning, to the woodwinds, to the brass. It's a perfect musical arrangement by Drew Shanefield.”
Joining Shanefield in designing the musical aspect of the show is percussion teacher Bret Kuhn. Pete Weber designed the drill formations and Matt Perez did the color guard routine.
“There's just something about this show that people really like,” Barnum says. “I think it's the contrasts we create between the lyrical pieces that people recognize and the exciting, rhythmic ones that are fast and exciting.”
Dallas Niermeyer, a nationally certified judge with Drum Corps International and former Hersey High School band director, judged Prospect at two shows this season.
“It's a really strong show,” Niermeyer says of Prospect's routine. “One thing that Prospect is really good at is getting its kids to perform at a high level.”