The fall at Wilton High School is dominated by many high stakes competitions and events: the homecoming football game, FCIAC and state tournaments, as well as the fall play; however, an overlooked group had been preparing for an equally important event. All fall long, whether at a football game, in the band room, or on the baseball field, the WHS marching band practiced for their state competition in the late fall. 

After only two years at the competition level, the band improved immensely, so much so that they won the state championship this past fall! The band received first place in Group III-A, with the highest overall score at the event.

Though the bulk of their practice is done during the fall, their work actually begins long before August, when the season starts. Arushi Patel, a WHS senior in band, says that “we typically get our show music the school year before, and we usually pick it out in January or February, and that’s the music we end up performing months later.” 

Then, as the summer begins to wind down, Patel and the other members have a grueling “two-week-long band camp, where the first week is 9 AM to 6 PM, and the second week is 4 PM to 8 PM.” There, they run through the show multiple times, get section-specific instruction, and even partake in physical conditioning to prepare for marching and playing their instruments at the same time.

The band must then meet the necessary criteria in order to qualify for the state championship. Patel mentions competition placement and size of the school as the main factors that determine the number of competitions attended by the band.

“Because of our band’s size,” Patel says, “we are considered a Class III-A band, and we have been to a few competitions where we are the only Class III-A band.” However, at the state championship, Patel explains that “there were other Class III-A bands, meaning that we had some tough competition for the first time.” 

The judging at the championship includes many different parts; the bands are each scored on costume design, music quality, music difficulty, overall visual effects, and set design. Additionally, the colorguard and percussion sections have their own judges, so the scores from each category are combined to get the total score. So, not only did the WHS marching band have the highest score in their class category, but the highest score at the entire competition. 

Each year, the marching band chooses music for their performance and comes up with a theme to fit with it. According to WHS Band Director Troy Williams, the students “have a big role in creating the routine. I usually pick out some options for music, we listen to it, and the kids vote on it. From there, to go with ‘To Boldly Go,’ we went with the space theme. The kids also help out with the set design.” 

Although the band itself has only been competing for the past two years, WHS has had a marching band for much longer. Williams, who began teaching at Wilton in 2018, recalls how “we started off as a dancing band, and the kids would walk around in groups of four called squads. We only did football games, both home and away, and went to one competition in Norwalk to perform when the judges were announcing the awards.” Then, the COVID pandemic hit, and everything shut down. However, at that point Williams now “had a fresh start, because all of the dancing band kids had graduated” thus allowing the current WHS marching band to take shape.

Now that Williams had a whole new set of kids, he could create a more traditionally competitive marching band. “The biggest change we made,” Williams says, “was taking the band from mandatory participation to optional participation. Now, we had a group of people who were very serious, and the whole culture completely changed.” 

Ava Rose Herbstreith, WHS senior and Drum Major (a leader and conductor) for the band, experienced this shift firsthand. “I’ve been in marching band since my freshman year, and when I first joined, it wasn’t really developed. We would do really simple shows and just wear tracksuits, but every year it’s gotten better and better.” 

Moreover, the band had some major obstacles at the beginning of their season, namely the fact that Williams was on paternity leave. Luckily, Williams got “Mr. Gordon to come from Middlebrook and he did a phenomenal job at keeping them accountable and bringing them even closer, like a family.” Additionally, the band found it hard to consistently find field time and lights, which prevented them from practicing sometimes. 

In spite of these challenges, they came out victorious. “I got pretty emotional,” Williams admits, “because we had put something like 200 hours into this routine, and I just felt so relieved when they called our name for that award.”  

Herbstreith also feels a strong emotional connection to the band. “I think being a drum major is the most unique thing I’ve ever done. Yes, it has taught me leadership, but also how to be a good friend and be confident. We’re all so close in the band, and it has given me a great community of people who all really care about music and each other.” 

Congratulations to the Wilton High School Marching Band! Our staff here at The Forum can’t wait to see your routine for the next school year (and hopefully a second state championship)!