User:Oddityoverseer13/WJHS Bands/Marching Band2

Marching Band
The band program was headed by M. Lance Britt and David S. Duffy and the band has competed in many local and national events. The band competed in the Bands of America Grand Nationals and placed 15 of approximately 90 competing bands from across the country. The band was also chosen to represent the state and march in the 2005 inaugural parade for President George W. Bush.

The WJHS marching band is an academic course at the high school and is available in the fall semester. In addition to learning to play an instrument, there is also marching drill practice and instruction. The WJHS band program also helps students learn about setting and reaching goals, teamwork, and leadership, their philosophy being, "With hard work and dedication, anything is possible".

The marching band is just one of the many ensembles that are part of the WJHS Bands program.

A New Era (2002)
This group was established in the fall of 2002, when the high school opened. Most members at this time came from other schools, and had varying amounts of experience. The group performed the show A New Era to the song New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak.

H2O: The Properties of Water (2003)
During 2003 WJHS Band competed at the Johnston City Regional in Tennessee, placing 10th, and becoming the first group to be a finalist at a regional. They also attended the Indianapolis Regional, and were undefeated in the state of North Carolina. This was Mr. David S. Duffy's first year as a director at West.

A Rock, A River, A Tree (2004)
This group performed the show entitled A Rock, A River, A Tree, inspired by the poem On the Pulse of Morning by Maya Angelou, performed to the music of Ron Nelson, and others. In October, the group attended the NJ Regional at Rutgers Stadium, and placed 7th. In November, the group competed in Grand Nationals, in the Indianapolis RCA Dome, and placed 21st, becoming the first semi-finalist group. They also continued to be undefeated in NC.

In January of 2005, this group was invited to march in the 55th inaugural parade, for George W. Bush's second term in office. They attended the parade on January 20th.

All the World’s a Stage (2005)
This was the first time that a group of seniors had attended West Johnston for the entire four years of their high school career. The group performed the show entitled All the World's a Stage. This show was a composite of Shakespeare’s plays, performed to the music of Sir William Walton and Gustav Holst. In October the group traveled to Florida and competed in the Florida regional, placing 7th. In November, at Grand Nationals the group placed 21st once again. They were also once again undefeated in North Carolina.

Declaration (2006)
The 2006 group performed Declaration, based upon the Declaration of Independence, using the music of Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, and Aaron Copeland. They traveled to Maryland in October and performed in the Towson Regional, placing 4th, and ranked as 3A Champions. Toward the end of October, they performed an exhibition at the South Carolina Regional at Fort Mills. In November, the group traveled to Indianapolis, placing 17th in semi-finals. They were almost undefeated, only to place 2nd at the Raliegh Capital Competition, due to a time penalty.

The Martian Chronicles (2007)
During 2007 the group took on a less serious theme. The Martian Chronicles was based partly upon the book by Ray Bradbury. The show used the music and narrations of Amin Bhatia’s Interstellar Suite. The group traveled to Towson and were awarded 3A Champoins for a second time in a row. At Grand Nationals, West performed in the RCA Dome for the last time, due to replacement by the Lucas Oil Stadium. They placed 15th in their semi-finals performance.

The Inner Compass (2008)
The Inner Compass was a show based on people making decisions based on their inner compass. The drill depicted many images of compasses pointing west. All the music for this show was composed from the Broadway Musical/movie West Side Story. During this season, West traveled to Maryland to compete in the Towson Regional, where they were awarded Grand Champion. For financial reasons, they did not travel to Grand Nationals. In November, after having been undefeated once again, they traveled to New York City to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where they performed their show Boogie Wonderland to the music of Earth, Wind & Fire.