After another successful marching season, the Marlow High School Band took their concert pieces to the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activity Association district contest at Duncan High School on Wednesday, February 27 where they qualified for state.

The band prepared their music for several weeks prior to the performance and put in countless hours of hard work to perfect their instrumentation.

Band director Billy Daniel has encouraged the band to do their best even in practice and was not disappointed.

“Our band tries to have a high expectations for our daily effort level and push each other with executing the small details,” Daniel said.

MHS sophomore Olivia Cantwell commented on the event.

“My experience at the contest was amazing, and I am extremely happy with the band’s performance,” Cantwell said. “I believe that once everybody stepped onto the stage to play, they gave it their all.”

In addition to performing their selected pieces for a panel of judges, the band also taped their performance for an audition to play at Disney World in the spring of 2020.

“Our District Contest recording has a huge impact on us being allowed to perform at Disney,” Daniel said. “We try to make sure that we are playing at our best.”

After their performance, the Pride of Outlaw Country received superior ratings from all three judges, as well as a superior rating in the sight reading portion of the competition.

Based on their ratings, the band qualified for state contest and will be preparing for their approaching performance at East Central University on Wednesday, March 27.

“This was the first time we have qualified for State since 2015 and only the 12th time in the history of the school that the band has qualified for state,” Daniel said.

Needless to say, students are excitedly anticipating their state performance, as well as the upcoming trip to Orlando, Florida.

“I believe that the Disney trip is going to be a great experience for everyone,” Cantwell said. “We are an amazing band and this is an awesome opportunity for us to showcase our ability on a big state so everybody is extremely excited!”

The band will be preparing for these two events tirelessly and hopes to receive support from the school and community as they compete at state contest and travel to Florida in the coming year.

Written by Skylar Schnedorf