Trending
MOUNT UNION – The Mount Union Area High School Marching Band brought home a first place award at its first competition of the season held Sept. 10 at Juniata Valley High School.
The marching band, under the direction of Rick Kane, Director of Bands at Mount Union, is playing a tribute to David Bowie titled “Shape Shifter, an Original Oddity.” The music is arranged by Kane, who said, “It is a combination of three well-known David Bowie tunes, ‘Space Oddity,’ ‘Under Pressure’ and ‘Modern Love.'” These tunes were combined with a lesser-known classical piece titled “An Original Suite,” by Gordon Jacob.
The students participated in a one-on-one clinic with the judges earlier in the day, and then competed against four other schools, including, Tyrone and Juniata Valley.
“This is our ninth year competing in Tournament of Bands and we feel this will be a great year. Over the last few years we graduated a lot of students who were the backbone of our group. But we are very proud of these kids because the upperclassmen have really stepped into a leadership role and the new recruits are working very hard to continue our band’s tradition of excellence,” Kane said.
“There are many people behind the scenes that make this activity possible. I am pleased that Tiffany Isenberg was able to return this year as our assistant director. We are also very lucky to have such a wonderful group of band boosters and the support of our school district,” Kane said.
The band doesn’t compete again until October, but folks can catch the show at every home and away football game throughout the season.
On Sept. 30, at Mount Union’s homecoming football game, alumni band members are invited to dust off their instruments and come play with the band.