For fans of animated Disney movies, the music of the White Plains High School Band will be very familiar. This year, the songs are taken from The Lion King.“From an artistic drill-writing standpoint there’s a lot you can do with it plus it’s popular, it’s very musical and it’s very educational for the kids,” said Jered Ross, band director for WPHS.
The show is fun and light-hearted with tunes like “Hakuna Matata,” “The Circle of Life” and “Be Prepared” that the audience will easily recognize from the movie, but challenging enough to keep the band interested and on their toes.
The six members of the colorguard, four of whom are rookies, had to learn to work with sabers and rifles for the routines this year.
“We’re doing a lot of tossing,” said Kala Brown, the colorguard captain. “We’ve just learned saber and rifle this year.”
The sabers will take the field during “Be Prepared” and the rifles are for “Hakuna Matata.”
Tempo changes between the six songs that make up the show also keep the band focused and working hard, though Ross says he kept the drill easier this year.
Drum major Veronica Cockerham is taking her first turn on the podium this year and is thrilled to be able to lead the band during her senior year, though she admits it feels odd not to be marching.
“It’s incredible. For a senior year show it’s everything I hoped for,” said Cockerham, who plays the flute and has been part of the colorguard. “It’s a lot different. I’m used to moving and now I’m just conducting.”
The band is 26 members strong this year and, with only four seniors and six veterans, is fairly young.
“It’s a very young group. A lot of young kids,” said Ross. “We’ve got a lot of eighth graders, ninth graders and sophomores. That’s the majority.”
This year, for the first time in memory, the WPHS band will not be marching any seventh graders, a change that has come because of the transition to the new middle school.
“I knew it was going to be smaller this year. We’re transitioning into a full high school marching band, since we’re getting a middle school. Next year it will be completely ninth through 12th,” said Ross, adding that many of the students who are in the band began marching when they were in sixth grade.
