Drums, Trumpets, Flutes, Flags, all the composition of a perfect marching band. On November 16, 2023, Paint Branch High School’s Marching Panthers ended their season with a well-deserved awards ceremony for all the band members held by Band Director, Mr. Alexander Mann.
Led by five seniors (Melanie Lancaster, Kyrah Brooks, Caylin Tatum, Veronica Antezana and Robert Thompson) who will graduate in June and become official PB Band Alumni, this year’s marching band consisted of 20 members total. These twenty members were made up of four flag twirlers, five drummers, a cymbalist, two trumpeters, two clarinetists, a trombonist, a saxophonist and a flutist.
With a season that runs from August to November, the marching band had a pretty eventful one. While they began the year with a slightly smaller cast than last year with just 13 members, by mid-season an influx of newcomers helped the team grow and make them stronger. Throughout the season, the band delivered strong performances and established strong personal connections. Everyone played an equal role whether they came in with strong musical experience or were fairly new to it.
The marching band practiced twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school, mostly practicing their drills and how they planned to enter the football field at halftime and before the game.
In addition to performing at both home and away football games, the marching band performed at school-based events such as the New Student Orientation and the NCE 8th Grade Open House. Additionally, they performed at in-school events such as the pep rallies in September and October. On a larger level, they performed alongside other high school bands at the annual MCPS band showcase at Colonel Zadok Magruder High School, where they performed their yearly signature Panther Sequence.
On the final meeting day of the year’s band season, the session ended with the five seniors “signing out,” which consists of them painting their hands and pasting their handprints onto their signout poster, which was then posted in the band room. Each member’s final band moment consists of this tradition, which has them recording a part of themselves for posterity.
