Volume CX, Issue 7
The student news publication of Walnut Hills High School
Monday, January 25, 2016
March to triomphe Marching Blue and Gold performs in Paris’ New Year’s Parade
PHOTO COURTESY OF CONNIE GANIM
Facing the Arc de Triomphe, one of Paris’ most famous landmarks, Marching Blue and Gold makes history as one of the first non-military bands to march along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, nicknamed “the most beautiful street in the world” by the French. The Champs-Élysées is one of the main streets in Paris that has only traditionally been marched down by military celebrating a victory. Emily Glazer, ‘17 Veronica Victa, ‘16 Walnut Hills’ marching band, Marching Blue and Gold, travelled to Paris over winter break to march in a New Year’s Eve Parade down the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe—the historic Parisian path previously only marched on by the military. This trip was the culmination of three years of planning. With the encouragement of administration, Marching Blue and Gold had applied to participate in parades abroad in cities such as Madrid, Paris, London, and Rome. After their application was seen, Marching Band Director Charles Ferrara said that they were told about the New Year’s Eve Parade planned for Paris. “Normally the parade is in a smaller part of town, but this was the first non-military parade to march down the Champs de Élysées, the cobblestone street that
is older than all of Paris,” Ferrara said. “They called me up and said they would like us to be one of the bands that marches in the parade. We were one of the only two high school bands,” Ferrara said. The parade itself was different than anything they had done before. They marched over a mile for two hours— something that far exceeds what they do regularly in either football games or competitions. It was long, it was cold, and it was chaotic. SENIOR Kayla Lennon, ‘17 said that, as the first parade down the historic street, “it wasn’t as organized as it could have been— there were a lot of people, a lot of starts and stops.” First year Marching Band member Kurtis Von Bargen, ‘20 said, “The band in front of us would take breaks sometimes but we didn’t take breaks. ‘Cause we’re Walnut.” But the struggle was easily worth the honor of the experience for all of them. Declan Robinson,
‘18 said, “Seeing the Arc de Triomphe at the very end and knowing that you were walking on the same street that Napoleon and the American [WWII] liberators stood on—I didn’t really grasp how cool it was until I was actually there doing it. I would think of that and it would give me that little burst of energy to keep going when we could barely play anymore.” SENIOR Sade Olowe said, “It is a once in a lifetime experience. No football game or competition can hold up to what this was.” Despite this, Marching Band felt prepared. “You practice for it, then you learn it and then you perform,” Von Bargen said. Robinson said it even “felt a lot more relaxed because we weren’t being judged, we didn’t have anything to qualify for, there weren’t any trophies or rivalries on the line.” As this was the first non-military celebratory parade of that scale in Paris, the parade was also novel to many locals. The parade was set up
with little or small barriers between performers and watchers, creating a close, intimate experience that allowed plenty of audience-performer interaction. Associate Director of Marching Band, Richard Canter said, “People were watching us with their mouths open because a lot of them have never seen a marching band before. They would go up and get their pictures taken.” Students nevertheless found familiar ground in the new environment: “People still had the same kind of happiness people normally have at a football game and people were really pumped up to listen to us play like you would at a football game. It was kind of similar but on a completely different scale,” Kenzie Sheppard, ‘17, said. However, not all students who wanted to go on the trip did— the Paris terrorist attacks in November posed safety concerns just a month prior to the trip. It was in a meeting between school officials and students and parents that Robinson
said “I stood up and told everyone that one of my first thoughts was ‘Now we have to go. Just to show solidarity with one of our closest allies and march in the face of these horrific events.’” The experience was one that comes once in a lifetime. However, this is far from the peak of the marching band’s accomplishments. The past season marked the 13th consecutive competition season that Marching Blue and Gold earned the “Superior” rating, the highest possible rating. Next year, they will compete in the Bands of America competition, a national high school marching band competition that will take place in Indianapolis. Future marching band seasons, unrestricted by the budget necessary to make the Paris trip possible, Olowe says will be “bigger and better.” From their consecutive award winning years to their history breaking trip to Paris, Marching Blue and Gold continues to soar.
“there’s just a great sense of pride to see our students march to our fight song on a world stage.” —Richard canter, Assistant marching band director ASHLEY FIREASK/THENOUNPROJECT.COM