Prospect High band wins state title

A showdown between neighboring high school bands played out Saturday night, Oct. 25, at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

The marching bands from Prospect High School in Mount Prospect and Hersey High School in Arlington Heights were the last two bands to take the field, of the 60 entered in the Illini Marching Band Festival.

In the end, it was Prospect's Marching Knights, who claimed their 26th consecutive grand champion title at the state's largest marching band festival, to win the Governor's Trophy. Prospect and Hersey finished 1-2 respectively in the Class AA standings, including in the drum major and percussion categories, while Prospect also claimed first place in the auxiliary scores.

The annual fall show generally is acknowledged to be the state contest for high school bands, and is sanctioned by the Illinois High School Association and sponsored by the School of Music and the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Going into the evening competition, Hersey's band had taken first place in the parade show - just ahead of Prospect - after competing in the morning event for the first time in 10 years. It set the stage for the longer field show that night, in which Hersey had edged Prospect last year, but missed out on winning the Governor's Trophy, after not participating in the parade show.

But if the competitive juices were flowing, Hersey's band students didn't show it. As Prospect's band followed them and marched onto the field, Hersey's students chanted, "214, 214," reflecting their common home base, Northwest Suburban High School District 214.

Both bands performed nontraditional programs, showcasing more serious, symphonic literature transcribed for bands, that the directors said challenged their student musicians as well as the drill teams.

Hersey's band performed a show designed around the music of American composer, Samuel Barber, and included "School for Scandal," his "Essay # 1," and "Medea's Dance of Vengeance."

"It's the toughest show that we've attempted," said Scott Casagrande, Hersey band director, "And it's been a challenging season."

By contrast, Prospect's students played a program built around different dance music, kicking off with a percussion-driven tribal number, and leading into a jazz waltz and modern piece, before ending with a Russian ballet.

"Everybody's trying to be creative and put something out there that nobody's seen before," said Prospect band director Chris Barnum.