Penn Marching Kingsmen qualify for state

It started on the black asphalt of the student parking lot at Penn High School, when July was its steamiest. It will end on Saturday night, Nov. 7, on the green turf of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. After more than 400 hours per student of marching and rehearsing and pouring total commitment into pursuing a dream, the Penn High School Marching Band will showcase its talent in the Indiana State School Music Association state championships.

Penn’s Marching Kingsmen will perform at 8:19 p.m. on Saturday in the culmination of the marching band season – the state championships. The Marching Kingsmen are one of 10 bands to qualify for the Open Class A state finals. Penn will compete with Avon, Carmel, Castle, Center Grove, Ben Davis, Goshen, Homestead, Lake Central, Lawrence Central for the state championship. Admission for the state championship is $20 for adults, and $18 for students and pre-schoolers. Babies under two years who will not be occupying a seat are admitted free.

Penn High School principal Steve Hope lauded the efforts of the entire Marching Kingsmen program, and in particular the efforts of drum majors Samantha Fluharty, Giselle Goad, Eric Wistreich and Reagan Johanson.  “I am very proud of the Penn Marching Kingsmen and their qualifying for state,” Penn High School principal Steve Hope said. “This has been a year where the seniors have had to do a lot of mentoring with the freshmen this year.  “This year's show is a testament to both the band leadership and the great effort from all of the underclassmen,” Hope continued. “The drum majors have done a great job of leading this band into the state finals, and I cannot wait to see the Marching Kingsmen at Lucas Oil.”

 This year’s theme for the Marching Kingsmen is “Bloom”, and it is a unique concept that the Marching Kingsmen have used to elevate their talents.  “I think “Bloom” is a really good theme for a show,” Wistreich said. “A lot of marching band shows tell a story, and they can be restricting, where design for a show says, ‘We can’t do this, because it doesn’t fit into the story.’“With “Bloom”, the idea of the story is look at growth and the verb of blooming and transforming into something beautiful,” Wistreich explained. “It being that, it’s easier for us to have more freedom to have different body movements, or the placement of props, and it’s not as restricting.”

Marching Kingsmen band director Glenn Northern said that the planning starts in the previous winter. He praised the efforts of parents who have invested more than 20 hours a week during the season, providing services ranging from meals to transporting equipment.  “We have some of the best band parents in the state, if not the best band parents in the state,” Goad said. “They donate their time, their money, and their resources. We wouldn’t be where we are without them.”  Northern said that this year’s Marching Kingsmen have been able to make improvements late in the season, which is a challenging task.  According to Goad, the band has been driven by the experience of not making the state finals in 2013.

“A lot of people were a little nervous at semistate, seeing that we didn’t make state in 2013, and we had made state for a lot of years in a row beforehand,” Goad said. “I think it meant a lot to people to prove that we could come back, not only after making it last year, but making it this year, also. I think it’s a sign that we’re on to another road of making a streak of Penn Marching Band advancing to state.  “I love the energy that this band has, and I think that’s going to give us a great chance to do really well at state,” Goad said. “I think the seniors had one common goal, to make state, and now that we’re here, we’re going to push ahead and do our best.”

Wistreich is looking forward to returning to Lucas Oil Stadium.  “Lucas Oil Stadium is really, really cool,” Wistreich said. “Every year that I’ve been there, I’ve experienced it in different capacities. My freshman year, I was blown away. This place is so big. It’s so amazing. There are so many people. I was nervous. I was a freshman. I had never performed in front of 30,000 people before.  ‘When I was a junior, I performed as a soloist. I forever have this image etched in my brain of all of the people. It was just a really great experience. Now, as a senior, I’ll be watching this band that I’m in charge of and that I’m really proud of.”

Performing in the state finals is an exceptional learning experience with long-term benefits for Penn’s students.  “For those of us who are looking for a career in music, to go to state is obviously something that is highly regarded,” Wistreich said. “Indiana is one of the biggest states in the country for marching band. We can put this experience on our applications for colleges. People will recognize that we were part of a really good marching band, and their music program is something that was not a joke. We’re somebody who is to be taken seriously.”

Northern also loves the educational value that marching band offers students.  “The skills that our students have mastered as part of the marching band go far beyond their musical skills,” Northern said. “Their problem-solving and collaboration skills make an activity such as marching band quite valuable in a student's scope of learning.”

DIRECTOR OF BANDS: Glenn Northern

ASSOCIATE BAND DIRECTOR: Chris Paulson

ASSOCIATE BAND DIRECTOR: Bill Leather

ASSISTANT BAND DIRECTOR: Jeff Carnall

ASSISTANT BAND DIRECTOR: Robi Davidson

ASSISTANT BAND DIRECTOR: Isaac Brinberg

PENN MARCHING KINGSMEN STAFF:

Jen Buckholz          Color Guard

Melissa Shull          Color Guard

Kali Marquart       Color Guard

Brittany Wakley    Color Guard

Brandi Holycross   Color Guard

Cassidy Disselberger  Color Guard

Martha Conrad        Color Guard

Jenn Witt                Woodwinds

Stan Garber            Woodwinds

Steve Bizoe               Brass

Dodi Carnall            Brass

Daniel Payton          Brass

Stefan Roose            Brass

Isaac Brinberg         Brass

Clayton Quantz       Percussion

Josh Verub              Percussion

Jeff Perry                 Percussion

Mark Hardiek           Drill Design

Kent Klee                Music Arrangements