By Catharine Runion · Community Editor
The Grove City College Marching Band is gearing up for the culmination of its season. Along with the final few football games, the Marching Band Festival, which takes place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4, will feature music that students have been working on for months.
This event features Grove City College’s Marching Band and several other bands from nearby schools. Mercer, Girard, Greenville, Sharpsville and West Middlesex high schools will perform as well.
The festival is enjoyed annually by college students and community members, but its primary focus is to cultivate relationships with local bands and individual musicians. The high schoolers are given an opportunity to perform, showcase their skills and see what the Grove City College Music Department is capable of.
Though not specifically a recruiting event, this is a simple and effective way to promote the college and the department. Department Chair Jeffrey Tedford ’00 is vocal about the program’s role in recruitment. For many students, a strong music program that it is possible to participate in as a non-major is a huge plus; this festival highlights the diversity of the music program to prospective students.
The band’s social media presence has increased over the season. Social Media Manager Hannah Terebessy has been hard at work cultivating reels, memes and feature posts, and the results have been positive.
“I’ve had a focus on recruitment and representation,” Terebessy said. “My vision is to encourage prospective students and marchers to join band by attempting to capture the joy music brings us.” She involves as many different members as she can to foster collective pride and unity.
Terebessy’s posts on Instagram, found under the handle @gccmarchingband, have increased the page’s following by over 200 people. A recent reel has reached over 23 thousand views and has nearly one thousand likes.
This year’s performance, led by drum majors senior Alec Durfee, junior Rachel Lewis and senior Daniel Garner, is 1980s themed. The show features countless classics like “Separate Ways” by Journey, Toto’s “Africa,” “Take on Me” by a-ha and “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler.
The band has also expanded their front ensemble to include bass and electric guitars, an updated sound system and, in true ’80s fashion, synthesizers. They are joined in their performances by the Grove City College Front Line.
It isn’t an easy thing to put together a show like that, though; Durfee said it’s a “mammoth project.” In addition to just learning the music, each band member must learn specific choreography to ensure that the visual component is strong.
With over 100 members to coordinate, the resulting show is truly a feat. “Each member is tasked with specific, customized coordinates on the field, rehearsing and memorizing the music and then putting it all together on the field,” Durfee said.
The process started a few weeks before school started. The show was put together, tweaked, practiced and repeated until the band operated as a cohesive unit. Durfee said, “While the hot summer days of band camp and early-season practices can be long and tiring, the work pays off when we have pregame and halftime shows to perform for the community.”
All of that hard work is a powerful bonding agent for band members; the band community is an incredibly strong one and one of the most united groups on campus. Most members cite this ensemble as being highly impactful on their time at the college.
Durfee is no exception. “The friendships and memories made during my time in marching band have been some of my greatest highlights in college,” he said. “It’s a great privilege to be part of an organization like this.”
Lewis is a firsthand witness to the band’s dedication and said that in the end, it’s more than a performance.
“All the band members have put so much heart into their performances,” Lewis said. “I am extremely grateful to be a part of a band where we have the opportunity to praise God through our dedication and performance.”
The performers aim for excellence, of course, but holding Christ at the center elevates it far beyond just being a show.
