Prospect Knights triumph at Lancer Joust
Northwest Suburban High School District 214 marching bands captured several honors last weekend at the 38th Annual Lake Park Lancer Joust at Lake Park High School in Roselle and at the Grayslake North Competition.
The Lancer Joust is a preliminary and finals competition format.
In the preliminary competition, the Prospect Marching Knights placed first in Class 3A and won caption awards for Outstanding Music Performance, Outstanding Visual Performance, and Outstanding General Effect.
The Hersey High School Marching Band took third place in the Class 3A preliminaries.
In the finals, PMK took first place, was awarded Grand Champion and earned caption awards for Best Music and Best General Effect.
The Hersey Marching Band took fourth place in the overall marching band competition.
Fourteen bands from Illinois and Wisconsin performed. Marching bands are judged on their music performance, visual performance and general effect.
Prospect's 2016 show is titled "In the Arena" and features music by Phillip Shepphard, Samuel Barber, Bjork and Hans Zimmer. In November, the Knights will travel to New York City to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The theme for the Hersey Marching Band's 2016 performance season is "The Festival of the Rose," featuring music from noted composers Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Astor Piazzola and Georges Bizet.
The musical selections are "Alborado and Fandango" from "Capriccio Espagnol," "Flamenco, Danse Boheme" from "Carmen" and "Libertango."
Meanwhile, the Rolling Meadows High School Marching Mustangs took first place in Class AAA, along with Best Percussion, Best Color Guard and Best Drum Majors, in their first competition at Grayslake North High School.
This year's competition show is titled "Desert Winds" and includes movements such as "Caravans," "Desert Raiders," "The Marketplace" and "Arabian Nights."
The Middle Eastern-influenced music is enhanced with intricate drill maneuvers, colorful flag choreography and delicate fan veils.
The next competition for the Knights and the Mustangs will be Saturday, Sept. 17, at the 49th annual Chicagoland Marching Band Festival at Wheeling High School. The event runs from 2 to 10:30 p.m. Admission is $12, $8 for students and senior citizens. For details, visit www.wheelingbands.org.
The Hersey band's next competition will be Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Red & Black Classic Marching Competition at Northern Illinois University.