Elle Roth

The halftime performance that football fans are familiar with starts to begin with beautiful sound and technical movements. The Monarch Marching Band immediately draws you in at the first football game of the season. You wonder who made these students so wonderful and captivating? While the directors have a huge role in this, the drum majors leading the band really do the most.
The marching band just held their annual drum major auditions to see who would be a perfect fit for this role. Every year there are a total of three students chosen for the position and most are re-chosen for two years in a row. The auditions are held in February-March to prepare for the upcoming season.
Previous drum majors really inspired new students to try out for the position. For sophomore, Bennett Carrico, the inspiration was more than observing someone on the podium, it was family up there.
“I wanted to try out for drum major because of my older brother Hudson,” Carrico said. “I’ve always looked up to him.”
Getting up in front of the class to audition for something as important as this can be extremely nerve racking. For junior, Vicky Wu, it was her second time auditioning as she was a previous drum major.
“Last year, I was definitely nervous, especially when I got up to the podium because there were like 60 upperclassmen staring at me. I just took deep breaths and hoped for the best,” Wu said. “This year, it was a lot easier because I had experience, but it was definitely a little scary being up there by myself because usually one of my fellow drum majors is up there with me.”
Standing up in front of everyone is bad enough, now the pressure of racing thoughts and conducting experienced players is added on.
“While I was auditioning I didn’t think too much,” Carrico said. “I was just trying to listen to how the band sounded and making sure that I hit important notes of the song and landing on my downbeats and conducting to the best of my ability.”
Part of the audition was to share goals for the upcoming marching band season. Each student auditioning had their own personal goals for the band.
“This season, I want to do more bonding with my section and the band. I feel like each section is kind of their own thing so I want us to think of ourselves as one big band instead of eleven different sections,” Wu said. “Also, I want to work on fundamental marching because we always got points taken off for that. I also want to get to know each section a little more because even though I stand on a higher podium than them, we’re all a part of the same band.”
With perfect fit students for the drum major role and each having unique goals in mind, the Monarch Marching Band is sure to have an amazing and successful 2025-2026 season.