Saturday, October 11th marked the first competition of the school year for the Jesuit Ursuline Ranger Band, the Little Elm Classic on the Lake Marching Competition. Going into the competition as an underdog, and generally the only private school band to compete in this contest, the Jesuit Ursuline Ranger Band went toe to toe with some of the largest public schools in the area. The band’s Disney-themed performance was by far 
its best in its history at the competition, placing second in its division and taking home their first trophy.
However, the work and preparation leading up to this victory was by no means an easy feat. The band’s hard work began in August, weeks before school started, during the annual Band Camp that lays the foundations for the marching season. This preparation continued as the school year started, with 7 a.m. rehearsals every morning before school and performances at the halftime shows on Fridays. Blake DeLong ’16, a saxophone player for the Jesuit Ursuline Ranger Band, commented on the pressure placed on preparation the week before the contest saying, “The week before the contest was crunch time. With the final movement to learn and the rest of the show to polish, the entire band worked really hard in the mornings to try to get the most out of every moment we had.”
The morning of the competition, the band arrived at Jesuit and practiced the show before heading to the Little Elm Athletic Complex. After arriving at the competition and getting into uniform, they continued preparing in the practice area while waiting to perform. DeLong gave his thoughts on the best part of the competition stating, “Being able to perform for an audience that is specifically there for you is pretty exciting. Performing on center stage has quite a different feel than playing at halftime during a game.” William Chu ’16, a snare player for the drum line, also commented on the competition saying, “Honestly the best part of the competition was everyone working their hardest to make our performance great.”
While there was a desire to place in the competition, the Jesuit Ursuline Ranger Band and its directors had a bigger motivation for competing against some of the largest schools in the area. Band Director Mr. Zane Crownover shed light on the goals for the band after the completion of the Little Elm Competition saying, “Our hopes for the band … are to go and get feedback from the judges that are there to critique us and apply those for the rest of the season and for future marching contests.” For example, JURB will compete in the Texas Private School Music Educator Association State Marching Contest on October 25th. To further emphasize this point Mr. Donovan Putnam commented that “the reason we started doing this competition was to get us ready for future competitions.”
Be sure to watch the Jesuit Ursuline Ranger Band’s award winning Disney themed marching show during the halftime performance and at future band competitions.
