Talawanda Marching Band Travels to Indianapolis

The Talawanda High School Marching Band will be attending the Bands of America (BOA) Grand National Championships on Thursday, November 14 at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of Indianapolis’ professional football team, the Colts. Last year the band scored 68.70 points (out of a possible 100) at the 2012 BOA Grand National Championships with their show titled Strength and Honor.

Drum major and senior Danielle Heil will be performing her last show with the Talawanda band at BOA Grand National Championships. “It’s really cool because it’s just a really big competition, there are lots of bands there,” said Heil. “We are in Lucas Oil Stadium and it’s a different experience being in the dome. It’s just so much bigger, there are so many bands and so many people. You see people from all over the United States and there’s just different styles [of marching band].”

The band has been competing at BOA Grand National Championships since 2007. Heil said that the band has been improving every year since they began competing at BOA. “We have done well and are consistently improving from year to year, so this should be the best performance yet,” she said.

Director Richard Gonzales said that the band is growing every year. “The band is doing better than they have done in any year,” said Gonzales. “Each year we get a little bit stronger and stronger.”

Gonzales said that if the band continues to grow like it has been from year to year, he sees the band being a semi-finalist band someday.

Veteran marcher and junior Jack Spaulding will be performing at Lucas Oil Stadium for the 4th time on November 14. “I think it is a rare opportunity playing where the Colts play,” said spaulding. “Having done it before, it’s very fun, it’s a large stadium and a great venue for what we are doing. This being my fourth year, it’s no big surprise to me what stage we are performing on, but it’s always fun to see the first year members react when we exit onto the field for the first time.”

This will be the final performance of their show, Tribal Affect, and will be concluding the 2013 marching band season.