The Warren Hills Regional Marching Band visited Washington, DC in mid-September to undertake a number of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

After an early departure from Warren Hills High School on September 15th, the trip began with a tour of the Capitol Building. Following the tour, the band returned to the bus and continued to the Lincoln Memorial, where they performed their 2017-2018 show, “iBand,” as well as several marching band standards.

Standing on the historic steps of the Lincoln Memorial and overlooking the pond of the Washington Monument, the band battled through the brutal Virginia heat to show the accumulating crowd of tourists a display of classic Americana. After some brief mingling with audience members from the likes of Argentina and South Korea, the band was allotted a brief time to visit the Lincoln Memorial itself.

The following day began at 5 o’clock sharp, as the marching band hit the road for James Madison University in Harrisburg, Virginia to attend the fourth annual JMU Band Day. The event, hosted by the JMU Royal Dukes, invited high school marching bands from six different states to rehearse with the Dukes, attend music classes, tour the campus, and perform with the Royal Dukes during the halftime show at a James Madison University football game.

The day began with each band going through registration and assimilating into the bleachers of the stadium while the Dukes performed sectional warm ups on the field below. After some announcements from the JMU staff, the attendees dispersed in waves to the field, where they became acquainted with the Royal Dukes and the section leaders with whom they would be spending the day.

From there the attendees broke into four sections: Brass, Woodwind, Percussion, and Color Guard. The Brass section attended a masterclass led by the acclaimed brass quintet, Boston Brass, and the Percussion section attended a masterclass led by the Royal Dukes Drum Line, while the other two sections attended lunch. After an hour and a half, they switched, as the Color Guard and Woodwinds attended masterclasses led by the Royal Dukes Color Guard and Woodwind sections, respectively.

The day concluded with the James Madison vs Norfolk State rivalry game. At halftime, the Royal Dukes performed their show while over 1,000 high school band students eagerly awaited. After a booming announcement, the students stormed the field and found their places. Four sharp whistle blows from the Drum Major kicked the entire congregation into the JMU Royal Duke staple, “Get it on”.

The final day of the trip began noticeably more relaxed, as the band began their day with a mid-morning wake up call and hotel breakfast. Once the band’s luggage was stowed under the coach bus and the hotel rooms were cleared out, the band drove back towards DC for the last day of their trip.

The first stop in DC was the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a hangar full of historic aircraft 30 miles away from the Air and Space Smithsonian in the National Mall. From the Udvar-Hazy Center, the band travelled into the heart of DC to the International Spy Museum, blocks away from Ford’s Theater, the group marched to their culminating activity with a visit to the National Museum of American History.

After a four-hour bus ride, the Warren Hills Marching Band arrived home, concluding an exciting, educational and memorable trip.