The saxophone section is all smiles during practice.
Eagles Marching Band Tunes Up for a New Season
WETHERSFIELD - They start each day with stretching and breathing exercises.

       Then they’ll break into groups for position-specific work, and then the full squad take the field until practice ends at 4 p.m. And they do it in the heat and humidity of mid-July.

       But this isn’t the Wethersfield High School Football team. It’s the marching band.

       â€"It’s a much more physical activity than people realize,” says Band Director David Dion. â€"Even though it’s an artistic activity, it’s an artistic activity that’s physically demanding.”

       Don’t believe him? Try running back and forth while blowing into a heavy brass or percussion instrument, while playing it.

       â€"It’s always the hardest as a freshman because you’ve always been [playing] in a room,” says Leah Cutkomp, who is going to be a senior this year. â€"Now you’re out on a field coordinating your hands with your feet.”

       And this year, she’s showing the marching band’s underclassmen the ropes. As a drum major, she’s charged with directing the massive ensemble through the movements, or â€"sets,” that make up an elaborate routine. All of these have to be memorized and performed in seamless, lock-step flow and there are between 70 and 80 of them throughout the show.

       â€"They’re already starting to lock-in more,” says Andrew Turgeon, another senior and drum major. â€"As long as you keep trying.”

       â€"Repetition is key,” Cutkomp adds. â€"It takes a lot of practice.”

       They have their playbook and probably close to as many stoppages as their football counterparts, for whom they will be rocking half-time shows.

       It’s the last hour of the day and the band is working on its routine for a rendition of the iconic Led Zeppelin song, â€"Kashmir.”

       They zero in on one segment, repeat the pattern to death and then take it from the top. And like any good coach, Dion makes sure that they always run back to their starting positions. Communication breakdown? Well they can’t have that, so they stick with â€"Black Dog” and â€"Stairway to Heaven,” the other two Zeppelin covers they’ll be performing.

       â€"We have a lot of students who play and listen to a lot of classic music--classic rock music,” Dion says. â€"I’m an old Led Zeppelin fan, so I tried to come in and look at their interests and pick the music that inspires them to achieve their highest.”

       They’ll have all the components of the traditional marching band, with an acoustic guitarist and, for â€"Stairway to Heaven,” even vocalists.

       That’s what they’ll take into competition season, during which they’ll be judged for the music, visual components and how well both areas mesh. They say â€"it’s what you do when nobody is watching,” and for those that have been in the grind since freshman year, the gain in yardage is already clear.

       â€"You just watch yourself grow,” Turgeon says.

       â€"I probably learned more doing this than anything else that I did in high school,” adds Eric Stefano, another senior and drum major.

       His advice for those just starting out?

       â€"Have fun,” Stefano says. â€"Learn new things.”

       And if you ask them, underclassmen already have that part down.

       â€"We rarely see a frown,” Cutkomp says.
MORE WETHERSFIELD NEWS  |  STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA  |  Sep 02 2015  |  COMMENTS?