On Saturday, October 29, the Band of Gold traveled to Waco to compete in the prestigious Regional Bands of America competition hosted at Baylor University’s McLane Stadium.
The Band of Gold began their winning day at 4:40 am, traveled to Waco and left it all on the field during their 8:00 am performance which included an eight-foot-tall smoke producing genie visual effect. Their performance was entitled “Tales of Arabia”, which drew inspiration from folk music of the Arabian Peninsula by Composer, Luke McMillan. This was the first time the band had ever been to Bands of America. Aside from Waco High School, Meridian Band of Gold was the only local band and the smallest to compete.
After spending the day in Waco watching all the competition, they learned they’d won four awards, Class A Regional Champions, Best Musical Performance, Best Visual Performance, and Best General Effect.
The highly awarded Band of Gold was honored to conclude the entire competition as the Exhibition Band which performed at 11:00 pm that evening. The Band of Gold opened the competition and closed it with a standing ovation.
This year the band was led by Drum Majors Kylie Hood and Meryl Roberson. Other student leaders were Percussion Captain Alathea Sandley, and Color Guard Captains Cortney Lunsford and Abby Edwards.
After a 23 hour day, the band arrived back at the Band Hall at 2:00 am.
The band competed in McGregor the weekend before and earned three 1st Division ratings, which was the highest rating they could achieve. Those ratings placed them as the top 1A band in Region 8 (UIL).
Band Director Daniel Yguerabide said Toney Rogers was the Percussion Tech served as his right hand and should be credited for helping the band succeed this year. Rogers and Yguerabide worked together in Crawford during the time Crawford’s band program was invited to perform at the Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C.
Yguerabide said, “There are many obstacles that hinder a small school, but the greatest obstacle at first was gaining the student’s trust. My style of leadership and teaching were new to them. Mr. Rogers has also been a great addition to the team as our percussion has improved tremendously. We hope to keep him around! As the season continued, students gained confidence in their ability to do well, and that built a strong sense of commitment. I would also like to acknowledge the faculty and staff at Meridian High School. They have been beyond supportive of the band. We appreciate all they do.”
A BIG Congratulations to the Meridian Band of Gold in a fantastic season and outstanding representation of their school and community.
