The John Adams High School Marching Band qualified for the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) Scholastic Finals on Saturday, October 8th at Chesterton High School. They earned a gold rating and competed at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis Saturday, October 22nd.
The last time the Marching Eagles qualified for state was 2014. Since then, Kevin Graham became the band’s director alongside the assistant band director, Emily Pantelleria. Charles Lawrence, commonly referred to as Señor, is the band’s percussion technician and Ali Carmingnani is the Color Guard Instructor.
The Marching Eagles were excited to compete at state, an opportunity that felt long overdue for returning members of the band that fell just short of qualifying last year. Last year, they were about half of a point away from getting gold, the medal you need to qualify for the state competition.
This year’s show is named Tempus and is based around time. The show takes inspiration from The Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun” and the hit show “Game of Thrones”. It has four movements and they are based around the four seasons.
The Eagles departed for Indianapolis at around noon and arrived at their hotel at 2 P.M. Once they checked in, they had a quick snack and put on their uniforms and headed out to Franklin Central High School. There, they would perform and score a 62,5, their highest score of the season. This score placed them 21st out of 22 bands in their class. From there they headed back to the hotel for the night and spent the next morning having fun at a park and eating some amazing food before they were heading back to South Bend to celebrate their success this season.
This is a huge accomplishment for the band and a huge step for the program as a whole. We are so proud of this season’s John Adams Marching Eagles!