Irvington’s award-winning marching band places second

For the first time in two years, Irvington High School’s award-winning marching band won second place at the Delta Band Review, the first competition of the year. On September 26th in Antioch, over 80 Irvington students lined up with their instruments ready to perform. With the exception of one junior high school, fifteen other high schools competed, along with the host, Antioch High School. The schools were divided into three division of A, B, C depending on the size of the marching band. Irvington was placed in the Division B this year.

The marching band scored 180 points out of a total of 200, losing to the first place band by 1.35 points. Although Concord High School won first place at the Delta Band Review, he band was about seven points behind the Sweepstakes winner, Golden Valley High School. The marching band placed second in their Division B and fourth overall out of the 16 schools. However, drum line and color guard did not place in the competition.

“I was so excited,” said flutist senior Andrew Lin. “When we found out we weren’t in fourth, everyone gasped. The gasp after the third place was announced was even louder, and then we just screamed when we found out we got second.”

Preparation this year was much more rigorous than that of previous years. Junior Angela Song explained how a lot of preparation and training were given during the Band Camp during the summer. “The majority of our band can march fairly well now, and those who are still working on it get special instruction time from our marching coach,” she said. “We are doing the best we can to gain perfection.”

Senior Kenneth Phung also emphasized on how the strict preparation led to the band’s success. Kenneth, a flute player, believed that the practices were much stricter yet effective this year. The band, along with the drum line and color guard, practices almost everyday after school for several hours. In addition, each section of the band meets during tutorials to create perfection in every student’s performance and fix minor errors.