The Shadow Ridge band program is an amazing elective choice. The band has many different instruments to choose from like the drums, flute, piccolo, violin and many more. There are two sides to the band. One side is the marching season in the fall and then concert season the rest of the year.
Blake Eecklor, one of the students in the band states, “Band is an absolutely fantastic and unique experience that I would recommend to anyone.”
Band at SRHS offers students the opportunity to show their creativity and it allows them to explore different genres of music and contribute to entertainment at school like at assemblies and sports games.
Eecklor also states “I play flute and piccolo and am co-section leader and woodwind captain. I would say the woodwinds are a very close group. We got to know each other really well this year which enabled us to work together better. We started to build that bond during summer enrichment, and it continued through band camp, and in sectionals before marching rehearsals. Throughout the entirety of the marching season we grew as a whole and saw major improvements in all areas, and will continue to do that in concert band for the rest of the year.”
This year they started working on their marching band show in June and July during summer acceleration. There are a lot of moving parts that are included in the show, they have to memorize their music, learn drill and some choreography for their performance.
They have had 4 competitions this year and they have been progressing with each competition completed, which led them to making it to the finals. It led them to having the opportunity to compete again with top bands around the district. They competed in their first Bands Of America competition at Utah Tech in St. George.
Eecklor also states, “Another great thing about marching band is being able to watch shows from other schools and seeing the similarities and differences. I feel that the band is a really welcoming environment not just within your own school, but overall, and everyone is very supportive of each other. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the year goes, and am excited to see how we can keep growing as individuals and as a whole.”
Now that their marching season is over the students are getting ready for their winter concert on December 11. Since the concert environment is a bit different, it is a little more detail oriented. For their concerts they have between three to maybe six pieces to perform, and there are usually three to four concerts per year.
