A chance to see the talents of the marching band beyond the typical Friday night football game halftime show, the Chelsea Marching Band Exhibition has become an annual fall tradition. With 15 bands participating, 14 high school bands along with the Chelsea Beach Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Bands, the exhibition brought together a number of schools to perform on September 24 at Chelsea High School (CHS).
This was the 17th Marching Band Exhibition at CHS. The event gives the students the opportunity to perform before their peers, family, friends and collegiate marching band directors. It’s a great way for students to display their talents and the hard work they put in.
In describing the event on its webpage, CHS Principal Amanda Clor said, “The event is a great venue to display local students’ musical talents as well as affords them the opportunity to interact with peers from other local high schools in order to build a larger community of learners.”
The high school marching bands on hand this year were: Stockbridge, Grass Lake, Manchester, Williamston, Blissfield, Michigan Center, Dundee, Tecumseh, Adrian, Monroe, Jackson Northwest, Dexter, Saline and Chelsea.
To learn more about the event, the Sun Times News (STN) connected with CHS Band Director Alison Roberts.
STN asked her what the motivation behind the event is.
“The answer is quite simple, high school band members work extremely hard and are dedicated to their instrument, their ensemble, their school, and to their artistic craft,” Roberts answered.
She said the exhibition “has been established to provide a performance environment for the audience to experience the marching band beyond the typical Friday night football game.”
“Our goal is to provide high school marching bands the opportunity to perform in front of a knowledgeable audience, to grow and learn through feedback and assessment provided by reputable clinicians, to share a common performance experience with peers from other high schools, and to have an opportunity to observe and learn from one of the finest college marching bands in the state and across the country,” Roberts said.
There was one hiccup to the event this year that was due to the unpredictability of the weather of the evening and transportation contracts. Roberts said they made the difficult decision to cancel the Eastern Michigan Marching Band’s appearance for the event.
However, she said after Chelsea’s performance they still invited students to the field to gather with their sections.
Robert said, “This turned out to be my favorite part of the evening. It was awesome to see how the Chelsea students welcomed other students into their sections and led them in a fun song or activity that filled the football field with positivity.”
At the very end of the night, the Chelsea and Monroe bands combined together to play “Waka Waka,” one of their half time tunes. Roberts said it was extra special, since the Monroe director and Beach Middle Band director are currently engaged to be married.
Another highlight was that the Chelsea band had their best performance of the season so far, Roberts noted.
“It is always incredible to perform in front of stands full of fans and hear everyone singing along,” Roberts said.
The final tune of the night ended with the entire stadium clapping along to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”
Photos By Dawn McCann
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
