Jason Hatfield
Entertainment Editor
The Mission Viejo marching band hosts their annual competition
It was a cold October morning when an array of students from different high schools across southern California began to show up to Mission Viejo’s home marching band competition. Students were required to gather at school at 10:00 am to begin setting up, warming up, and practicing.
“It was very stressful leading up to the competition,” Geneva Bjornestad, Class of 2025 stated. The marching band had been working for this competition for quite some time, a week before school started in fact.
Despite the fact that Mission Vieijo had had experience with hosting competitions in the past and excelling in doing so, this environment was quite different. Jackson Deberard, class of 2022, explained, “Two classes of people had never had a competition before, We weren’t sure if they were able to step up.”
The band put in a lot of effort and hard work leading up to the competition. They had 2-4 hours of practice Monday through Friday, as well as a band camp the week before school started.
Brice Kirk, class of 2022, elaborated on the atmosphere leading up, explaining, “There was a lot of nervousness, for people doing it again, it was the first comp in two years, and many people had never done it before.” Despite this, the band had done quite a bit of preparation and was ready for the day to come.
Since it was a home competition, Mission Viejo was not only required to perform but also to host and set up the entire event. Thanks to a large fleet of volunteers, the event went exceedingly smooth.
Despite the stellar crew that helped out, this didn’t prevent all of the setbacks for the band. Brice Kirk adds, “We were a bit worried that our show was too short and that we were going to be penalized.”
Another worry was that the weather. “It was cold outside and difficult to tune, it being cold made it hard to march” Gavin Hemmrit, Class of 2023 recalled.
Regardless of these circumstances, the musicians knew they had a job to do; to seize a victory for Mission Viejo High School. Eventually, the ensemble’s time to perform came around the corner and the students knew exactly what to do.
Brass bursted with expression, woodwinds filled the air with beautiful melodies, percussion held a strong pulse, and colorguard performed their visually stunning routine. The ensemble was satisfied with their performance and only awaited results.
Eventually, results were announced and Mission Viejo received the good news they were waiting for; they had won 1st place in their division. “I felt accomplished that we got first place at our competition,” Jackson Deberard exclaimed.
There was a sense of accomplishment and relief amongst all of the members of the band. Brice Kirk recalled, “I felt incredibly hyped after our visual tech told me I was carrying the band.”
In the end, the Mission Viejo High School marching band home competition was a massive success. David Parsons, class of 2025, encapsulated Mission Viejo’s success in one of the students commonly used quotes. “Sweat like pigs, work like dogs, march like gods.”
