The Lisbon Marching Band received a Division I rating at the state band competition Saturday, Oct. 8.
The theme was “Lisbon Goes West,” with the songs “Cheyenne,” “Diego’s Goodbye, (from ‘The Mask of Zorro’)” and the theme from “The Magnificent Seven.”
The marching band also participated in Bands Across the Prairie Competition at Prairie High School Saturday, Oct. 1, where the band took home first place with caption awards of best winds, best percussion and best drum majors.
“I think what I enjoyed most this year is the ownership taken by the band of the product on the field,” Lisbon High School band director Joseph Arch said. “It makes my job easy when I have kids beating down the doors in the morning to get in and practice their music.”
Arch said that Lisbon has very talented and hard-working kids at Lisbon, which makes it possible for the band to do more great things musically.
“The other takeaway I have from this year’s season is the culture of the group,” Arch said. “We have kids of many different levels of ability yet we come together to work hard and make something we can be proud of. We graduate seven seniors this year, but of those seven, three started with the band last year. I think that says a lot about what it is like to be part of this band, that kids who were not in the band can join and contribute in a way that is meaningful and be part of an incredible group.”
That devotion to the music didn’t go unnoticed by administrators and school board members, as the band’s Division I rating generated a lot of conversation at the Lisbon School Board meeting Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Lisbon Schools activities director Eric Ries noted that the number of students out for band definitely has given Lisbon a different level of sound out on the field, and that was apparent at the state marching band competition.
“Those kids worked hard on that production, and there were several cool routines they had in their performance,” Ries said.
The band did so well that one of the notes that came from the president of the state Marching Band from adjudicators was how much students really loved playing for their director, which came across on the field, said Lisbon School Board member Allan Mallie.
“The excitement you see from people celebrating the success of the band is huge,” noted Lisbon School Board member Abbe Stensland. “You even see it’s starting to make its way to the middle school levels.”
The marching band season coming to a wrap, but the students will be playing at a home playoff game for the Lisbon Lions this Friday, Oct. 22.
Arch noted that the game is the students dress up game, where students will be dressed in costumes for the halftime show. The band will also provide musical entertainment if there are additional play off games in the postseason.
The level of support that Arch and the band have had for the Lisbon Lions football team has also been admired by many visiting teams at home games, where they’re just wowed by the amount of music that’s played in the stands during the game as well in comments to Ries and other administrators.
“They have their music they play for first down, second downs, third downs,” Ries said. “Arch is even explaining to band members some of the things that are happening on the field so they have a better grasp of the game. I’ve heard from students that the most fun they’ve had playing in a band is playing at the football games.”