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Photo by Robin Spencer
Southeastern’s marching band includes: (front row, from left) directors Ryan Scherber, Rhianna Wyss, Kathy McGrath; (second row) Aaron Litteral, Ryan Peters, Geoffrey Lewis, Jessie Shaffer, Emilee Riegel, Paloma Flores; (third row) Brenda Cox, Beth Judy, Carrie Litteral, Canzada Peters, Haley Banion, Kara Pearl, Ashley Springer; (fourth row) Kelly Hale, Jared Edwards, Amber Hanson, Anthony Shuler, Erin Ruby, Casey Miller, Ashley Timmons, Ashley Biddle; (back row) Evan Joos, Katherine Gordon, Jeff Elzey, Tony Springer and Julie Hale. |
Variety is the spice of life when it comes to the Southeastern High School marching band’s football season repertoire.
The group has prepared three half-time shows, each featuring a completely different flavor of music.
The first show revolves around the music of The Doors, including “Touch Me,” “Light My Fire” and a medley of “Peace Frog” and “Love Her Madly.” In “Light My Fire,” sophomore Kelly Hale will perform a trumpet solo and the woodwinds will imitate the sound of an organ, an instrument used heavily in the rock band’s music.
The second show of the season takes its tunes from the score that backed “The Chronicles of Narnia” movie. The spotlight will shine on the clarinet section during the show’s middle segment.
“I chose the Doors theme because I knew a lot of people would recognize the music, and the kids will recognize the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ because it was a recent movie,” said Ryan Scherber, second-year band director at Southeastern.
The band’s seniors got to select the music and write the drill for the third and final show of the season. They chose music from the 1980s, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out.”
For every performance, sophomore Rhianna Wyss will serve as field commander. When she’s not directing, she plays flute.
With 27 members, this year’s band is 40 percent bigger than it was last year. The expanded instrumentation allows the group to perform harder music and present a fuller sound for the audience, Scherber said.
Outside of high school football games, the band will participate in Miami University Band Day on Sept. 15. Eight to 10 high school bands will perform with the university band during half-time of Miami’s game against the University of Cincinnati.
“It will be a great educational day for the kids. They’ll get to meet other bands and work with the Miami University director,” Scherber said. This is the first time Southeastern has taken part in the event.
Southeastern also will participate in the Kenton Ridge Marching Band Festival on Oct. 20, where they will perform their Doors show.
