Marching Band to play first ever field show at Homecoming Game

By Garrett Ammesmaki,

Editor

The Tea Area High School Marching Band kicked off their 2022 season on September 16 with a street marching competition in Parker.

Fifteen bands from the area competed that Saturday which saw TAHS take Best in Show for both drum majors and color guards, as well as second place in both their class and overall.

This year has a Spanish music theme for street competitions, and TAHS competed against Sioux Falls Christian and Vermillion in their class with a “fiery Spanish opener” called Aztec Fire.

Band Director Stephanie Wranek said the tune was a great choice because it involves a couple different textures and themes within a single song, which helped with scoring points with the judges.

“Judges like to see contrasting styles in your music and see that you can adjust your feet to different styles as well,” Wranek said.

The win is a great start to the year that not only marks Tea Area School Districts 20th anniversary, but also a few change ups for the marching band. Alongside some new modern uniforms, the band will also perform its first ever field show during halftime at the homecoming football game.

The theme will be “Journey,” and will involve a few ‘80s tunes that Wranek said the crowd will really get into.

They started practicing for field shows in July. And, though they have a great reputation in street performances, don’t expect to see them at a field competition anytime soon.

“It’s new for us,” Wranek said. “So, we’re easing into it for a few years before we actually start competing.”

“The biggest hurdle,” she continued,” is marching to different spots as a group and making very specific formations, as well as understanding how it all works with the music.”

With 76 band members, it’s easy to see the challenge. But Wranek said that she has a great team, and they’re up for the new direction. That team includes Tim Dingman as assistant marching director, Katie Jensen as head color guard director, and Jacob Hubers as percussion instructor.

The TAHS Marching Band’s next competition will be a tri-state marching festival on Saturday, Sept. 24 in Luverne.

“I’m excited for this year,” Wranek said. “We’ve got a great group of kids and they’ve been playing really well so far. Plus we get to show off some new uniforms.”