It’s a football Friday night tradition.
Before the varsity Spartans take the field, the Solon Marching Band, in their orange and black uniforms with polished black hats and plumes, performs the National Anthem (as Solon American Legion Stinocher Post 460 presents our nation’s flag) and the Solon fight song. At halftime they again march out onto the field to provide entertainment while the football players rest, rehydrate, and get their second half instructions from the coaching staff.
For band director Desmond Cervantez, in his 27th year at Solon (28th overall), the Spartan band is smaller but no less enthusiastic than in the past.
“We’re just barely over 40 (members). Back in the heyday, we had 120, 130,” he said.
There are multiple reasons for the decline, he said, including Covid and turnover of teachers at the middle school, which is when most band students get their start.
“If we don’t have a solid middle school program I don’t get the numbers at the high school.”
While they may not fill the field, the band brings energy to pump up the crowd, Cervantez said.
The band competes every fall with a show they present to the crowd at halftime.
“I think its good to have our own season, our own goals, and competitions for the kids to motivate them to strive to be their best. And then we also like to share that with our own home crowd, but this gives us our own season on top of this.”
This year’s competition show, which will be performed throughout the season, is based on Cirque du Soleil (“Circus of the Sun”), and Cervantes is calling it Cirque du Solôn.
“Its all music from the Cirque du Soleil shows. If you’ve seen it (or watched their shows), they have cool music so we’ve used those pieces of music as our marching show.”
While there won’t be any crazy acrobatics or death-defying aerial acts, the members of the Color Guard will be donning clownish face paint for, “a slight circus theme.”
This year’s Iowa High School Music Association State Marching Band Festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 11 at Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
