The 2016 Marching Knights include 35 student musicians and 12 color-guard members. The band members include students from Kettering and a number of surrounding communities: Bellbrook, Centerville, Miamisburg, Lebanon, Springboro and Waynesville. You might be surprised to learn that two of these musicians play guitars and electric bass.
“Our show was very intricate this year. I loved the opportunity to perform on electric bass, as well as electric and acoustic guitar,” said Joey Liechty. “This show really allowed me to connect with the audience. I had a solo at the end of the show that captured the moment we wanted.”
In addition to the traditional marching band wind instruments, they use an entirely stationary percussion and rhythm section that includes marimbas, vibraphones, xylophones, bells, drums, synthesizer keyboards and the guitars.
Proud band parent Tim McHenry of Miamisburg sent in the contest stats for this past season. Placed 1st in Class A at the Dayton Regional, Welcome Stadium on Sept. 24. Placed 1st in Class A at the St. Louis Super-regional, The Dome at America’s Center, on Oct. 21-22. Alter won their fifth consecutive Class A Championship at Shea Stadium in Norwood, sweeping all five divisions: best music, best color guard, best percussion, best visual, and best general effect. They brought back semi-finalist and 3rd Place Class A winner trophies from the Grand National Championships, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Nov. 10-12.
“It really comes down to the hard work and commitment of the students. We are very blessed with a very supportive school administration and music parent booster group,” Tucker said.”They make it very easy for our staff and kids to design, create and execute at a very high level. Hard work and dedication in that supportive environment tends to lead to great achievements.”
The Alter Marching Knights’ competition program “Ghost Story” featured “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saens, Mozart’s Requiem, and the music of Stephen Sondheim. “Danse Macabre” is a haunting melody with many changes in tempo. It took 200 hours of practice just to learn the basic performance.
“Even between our prelims, performance and semi-finals at nationals, we continued to adjust and tweak things to maximize the performance,” Tucker said. “We have an incredible music and color-guard staff with a true passion for teaching, creating and innovation. We really do have a team effort when it comes to creating the shows.”
Tucker credits many people with the band’s success. He collaborated with Michael Cesario to develop the show’s concept and musical storyboard. He worked with Tim Hinton on the music arrangements and pacing. Percussion director Josh Carpenter helped write the percussion section.
The visual concepts come together when Tucker writes the staging and movement for each member on the field. His wife, Lauren, is assistant director and writes the body work for the band members. Guard director Amanda Miller and guard staff Shelby Klamert and Megan Sears create the guard’s visual package.
“Also, our student leadership and seniors set the bar high to achieve, and they did just that,” Tucker said.
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