HARLINGEN — A new beginning, a new tomorrow, an exciting season.
The excitement of the fall football season with the requisite marching band was palpable Tuesday afternoon as musicians practiced in the parking lot of Harlingen High School.
There was the bellowing of tubas and the ringing of percussion and quick marching steps and the whirling of flags in the afternoon sun, the rush of an annoying Texas wind and the commands of Band Director Maria Coronado and the exhortations of Drum Major Lily Alaniz.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” said Lily, 17, a senior, who was practicing with about 150 marching band students, a significant improvement from last year.
“It’s really fun,” she said. “I get to see everybody. This year it’s a little more normal for sure. I mean during COVID we kept doing band but with just a lot more precautions, so it feels weird to get back into the rhythm but it’s fun. Our band got pretty small these last two years, so this year we’re back to normal, our average size.”
She and other band members at HHS and elsewhere exuded a rich excitement for the returning of things joyous and hopeful, for the gathering of people and the rejuvenation of intimacy and the connectedness of life.
Jacqueline Davis is a drum major at Harlingen High School South. This is her second year in that position — she plays six instruments — and she sees a world of change.
“This year it’s definitely a lot different in a good way,” said Jacqueline, 17, a senior.
“We’ve started to create a better culture, more family,” she said. “It was a lot different last year because our numbers were lower. Now there are a lot more people coming in and seeing how close we are and we spend a lot of time here together.”
The San Benito High School Greyhound Band is already back in school as of Aug. 8 and they’ve resumed a rigorous practice regimen for the fall season.
“It’s a very positive attitude from the kids, they are working very hard,” said Greyhound Band Director Dayri Mendoza.
“We have not had the numbers that we have had in previous years, but there is an upward trend nevertheless and we are definitely bigger,” Mendoza said. “But we are also better so we are improving not just in size but in ability.”
This year’s Greyhound program is entitled “Phoenix Rising,” which is reflective of the mood of so many high school music programs at this present time.
“It has music by Igor Stravinsky, it has the Firebird Suite as well as Eric Whitacre’s ‘Fly to Paradise,’” Mendoza said. “It’s not necessarily a bird or a firebird theme but it’s a flight theme. And so that’s the music for it and it’s very well arranged, and the kids are having a good go at it.”
The HHS Cardinal Band will present the program “The Warrior Within.”
“It’s like a modernized Roman theme,” Coronado said. “There are three movements to it, and we haven’t put titles to those three movements, but it’s kind of a process of a warrior battling and trying to find the strength within, once he’s injured trying to find the strength to overcome death.”
This “Warrior” concept is once again fitting for the spirit of these times when musicians are now emerging from a dark time to celebrate camaraderie and connection.
“Practice is going fantastic,” Coronado said. “Their work ethic is amazing, and they have very positive attitudes, they are very positive, and they are very eager.”
Her students appreciated very well the significance of the “Warrior Within” symbolism.
“Warrior has a very deep meaning because we came back from years that had a lot of difficult things,” said Jayden Payne, 17, section leader of the drumline at HHS.
“It was a lot to come back from,” said Jayden, a senior, “but everybody’s motivated. Everybody who’s out here in the field has a big heart and is very motivated to do everything they like to do. The program that we’re playing is very fun and the music is very active.”
The wind at Tuesday’s practice made it hard for Alyssa Moore and her fellow color guard members to perform their flag maneuvers, but it didn’t dilute her enthusiasm for the day.
“This year it’s very different because obviously we’ve got a bunch of new people this year,” said Alyssa, 16, an HHS junior.
“It’s very different for them and it’s very new to teach people what you have already learned, but we’re all going to catch on soon,” she said.
Rehearsals at Harlingen South are “exciting,” said Band Director Roy Barajas.
“The students have an increased level of enthusiasm this year,” Barajas said. “I think having had that year after COVID to get their bearings back in place has really propelled them toward the energy they have now.”
Barajas has about 140 students in this year’s Hawk band, also a significant increase.
“We are currently working on our 2022 UIL production, and that’s called ‘Acts of Light,’” he said. “Acts of Light is in essence a story about the journey of the sun over the Earth, so sunrise, midmorning, midday, evening sunset.”
Perhaps in this time of renewal it would be more fitting to begin with the sunset and move toward the morning rise and the rebirth of things.
