Band performs ‘A Walk on the Path,’ qualifies for state competition

The Revere High School band is working on a new contest show piece that will take the listeners on an emotional journey.

According to band director Darren Lebeau, students involved in band are learning the new piece “A Walk on the Path.” Lebeau oversees all progression made in band. He stated the piece brings a new, more emotional impact to the listeners and the musicians themselves. The music itself is about emotions, personal experiences, and about going from the dark to the light.

“[The theme] is really up for consideration,” Lebeau said.

According to Lebeau, the piece involves a thematic show and story. The past shows possessed a more poppish and upbeat vibe to them, but this new piece feels darker and has a different mood.

Since the new piece significantly differs from the past pieces, Lebeau believes the show requires more work. Lebeau also mentioned that the process of learning this piece takes time, with fifty freshmen now in band there are more students to teach.

The band consists of around one hundred twenty to one hundred thirty students this year. Senior flute player and squad leader Anna Gerber, mentioned that while much time has been spent teaching the new students the correct marching technique, the freshmen are thankfully fast learners.

“It still needs some work, obviously, but the progress we have made since the beginning of the summer is tremendous,” Gerber said.

Gerber also mentioned that it is difficult to keep the band motivated on occasions.

“To keep people motivated, we, the leadership team, really just have to stay motivated ourselves,” Gerber said. The students practice every day fifth period and once a week after school for three hours.

“It helps that we have time to practice every day,” Gerber said.

Lebeau added that it is a long process to learn a new piece, but the band is improving and will be done in mid-October.

Band president and flute section leader Paige Fritz discussed the band’s progress.

“Everyone is working really hard to get better, and we’ll get there with more practice,” Fritz said.

Revere hosted a competition on September 23rd and performed at Copley and Warsaw on October 14. They attained a superior rating at all three competitions. They will be performing at the OMEA state-level competition on November 3.