Colony band plays the Big Apple

PALMER — After months of preparation, the Colony High School marching band is now in New York City, all set to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Colony music teacher and band instructor Jamin L. Burton said he is proud of the time and effort all his students have put into this.

“It’s really impressive to see the leadership and the skill of the upperclassmen and the roles they’ve taken on to mentor and teach the younger people, kinda get them up to speed. And, they’ve really become a fantastic band,” Burton said.

Burton said that his band began practicing in January for the event and since then, has put in more than 225 hours into preparation for its big march in one of the world’s most famous parades. The band is comprised of students from freshman to seniors and even includes some alumni. The alumni were not present for the invitational, but will join the students when they perform at the Macy’s parade.

There are two parts to the Macy’s parade. The first is the “line of march” parade, which starts on Central Park West and operates like any other conventional parade. The second is the “made-for-TV parade” that is just one block of space designated for the broadcast. The sections of the parade are remixed and shown on TV, with the iconic floats and other imagery Americans have grown accustomed to seeing every Thanksgiving. The Colony Marching Band has to prepare two different sets for each march. In addition, the band runs their field shows for football games and other local performances, so everyone has been practicing three different sets since January.

“We’re blending aspects of marching military moves, ballet, modern dance, hip-hop, and music (popular selections from the radio) — all at the same time. There’s lots of visuals, lots of choreography, high energy music, great dynamics, some powerful moments, music that would be entertaining for a big crowd,” Burton said.

Until Houston High recently added a marching band, Colony’s has long been the only of its kind in the state. Burton said he thinks the lack of competition in Alaska has been the biggest challenge for his band. He said that competing formally isn’t necessarily the “end all, be all,” but seeing other high-level bands perform inspires them to play better. He noted that in spite of going in without rivals, the band has made tremendous progress and reached an impressive level of skill and finesse. He said this his students are always bettering themselves, doing their best, without having to compare their routines to other bands.

“I think the fact that we’ve progressed as far as we have is really remarkable,” Burton said. “They have really bought into creating a culture where you’re not trying to beat your cross-town rival, you’re trying to beat yourself.”

To see the Colony High School marching band on television, tune into NBC (KTUU, Channel 2) between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.