Autzen Stadium was lit up with excitement this Saturday, and not from the typical football hype. Instead of football fans, the stadium was filled with music enthusiasts cheering for 22 high school marching bands from across the Northwest in the 33rd-annual Festival of Bands. Sheldon High School represented Eugene and competed against tough competition for the highest honors. Although they didn’t place in the top three, they ranked 10th, the highest ranking of the three local schools who competed. A journey that started last March concluded with a happy ending.
Tracy Ross, Sheldon’s band director, has helped push the band program forward for the last 10 years, overcoming many obstacles including underfunding.
“When I first came to Sheldon we had about 40 kids in the wind ensemble, 40 in the marching band and a jazz band with 6 kids in it,” said Ross. “We currently run three full jazz bands, a wind ensemble with anywhere from 40-60 kids and a symphonic band with anywhere from 40-60, a pep band, a color guard and a pit. We’ve expanded the program in the last 10 years and really built something.”
Ross, who raises over $20,000 each year for the band, said that they aren’t supported by the district in the same way that sports are.
“The money the district gives me doesn’t even cover music repairs and sheet music. I’ve found other avenues to be able to do what we do,” said Ross. “If I wasn’t able to raise the money with the things that we do, and Autzen being one of our biggest profits, we wouldn’t be able to do the marching band.”
For many of Sheldon’s marching band members, the Festival of Bands was the last band competition of their high school career.
“It’s a little bit bittersweet because it’s my last marching band competition in high school,” said senior Ami Wick who conducts for the marching band. “I felt amazing coming of the field. It was our best run, hands down; all year, our best run. I was incredibly proud.”
“I felt pretty dang good coming off the field today. I was looking at how the overall band did, and it felt really good,” said Justin Owen, center snare, after Sheldon’s preliminary performance. “I hope that everyone feels satisfied by the end of the day and that we go onto finals!”
Sheldon’s preliminary performance carried them all the way to the finals, pushing them into the top 15. Their performance, titled “In and Out of Darkness,” included complex formations, intricate music and an abundance of enthusiasm.
“What I told the kids today was that it doesn’t matter from here; seniors should feel really good, everyone should feel really good that we did the most solid performance that we could have done,” said Ross. “And if it ends here, if we don’t make finals, it’s because there were many bands that were better than us. And that’s all you can take from it, because it’s a much better way of walking off the field feeling that way.”
The band started preparations months before the season actually began.
“The kids actually get the music and practice marching in the spring,” said Ross. “They meet together over the summer and, three weeks before school starts, color guard, drumline and percussion come and they do 40 hours per week for two weeks. We usually have our whole show learned before school starts, and we spend the rest of the time cleaning and perfecting.”
At the end of the day Central Valley High School (Spokane Valley, Wash.) received first place, Grants Pass High School took second and Evergreen High School (Vancouver, Wash.) placed third.
“Autzen is an intimidating place to play; you’ve got the echo and some things that aren’t going to happen in our football stadium that we can’t recreate. And keeping the kids not nervous as they go out into the tunnel … I mean, this is it! 60,000 people fill this stadium!”