Surround Sound show band makes history

This past Saturday, Feb. 22, the show band for Surround Sound received the award for Best Band at the El Paso show choir competition. The show band had never received the Best Band award before.

“We were consistently the second-best band at previous competitions this year, being only a point or two away from first place,” said Noah Raso, a percussionist in the show band.

Alex Driever plays baritone saxophone in the Surround Sound show band, as well as in the Jazz I ensemble that attended a jazz band competition Friday, Feb. 21. Driever is not the only one in both of these ensembles: Aidan Hamner plays trumpet for both Jazz II and Surround Sound show band.

“It was big for us to win. In Illinois show choirs can hire professionals to play for their show choir bands, unlike in Iowa, where if you do that, you can be disqualified,” Hamner said.

This was the second to last competition that the seniors will ever perform in. Some have been in show band since their sophomore year. One of these seniors is Peter Hurd.

“I’ve been in show band since sophomore year and every competition we were just shy of getting the best band award. This year we worked hard and to finally be recognized for all of our hard work, it just means the world,” Hurd said.

This Saturday, Feb. 29, will be the last competition of the year for the show choirs. They will be traveling to Cedar Rapids for the Marion Masquerade competition. Next Saturday, March 7, will be the spring show. This will be the last chance to see Surround Sound, Audio Intensity, and the middle school’s Reverberation perform their show.

Surround Sound's band won the "Best Band" award at El Paso-Gridley Showdown.