The Kenai Peninsula’s only high school marching band braved blustery conditions for its annual performance showcase last weekend. The young musicians showed off a year’s worth of work with a medley of music that incorporated contemporary electronics.
Rain poured on the football field at Kenai Central High School. Musicians hurriedly threw tarps over instruments and braced against the wind before waiting for the go-ahead from the band’s student leaders.
It’s the third annual Kenai Marching Showcase, which brings together high school band members from around Alaska. This year, Colony High School’s band, Thee Northern Sound, is the only other group to attend.
Kenai’s performance is an odyssey into the digital world of Disney’s science fiction franchise “Tron.” The band plays music by Daft Punk. That’s the French music duo behind the grammy-nominated score for 2010’s “Tron Legacy.”
Christian Stephanos is Kenai’s band director, and said “the kids have been bugging me for a video game show.”
He set out to tackle electronic entertainment for this year’s show and “Tron” was “the right choice.”
Electronic music and synthesizers are a hallmark of the “Tron” franchise. But that sound is different from what you'd expect to hear from trumpets or flutes. In addition to traditional woodwinds, brass instruments and percussion, Kenai’s performance features digital sound effects, a drumset and a desktop computer hauled onto the field.
Stephanos said bringing electronics into the performance means giving his students experience with a more contemporary music style.
High school senior Afton Roberts is one of Kenai’s drum majors – basically, the leader of the marching band. She says the showcase gives a chance for the marching bands from around Alaska to come together, take the spotlight and share their hard work.
“It’s just fun seeing all the work you put in the season come together,” she said.
The visiting Colony High School band brought a piece called “Motown Hits” to the field all the way from Palmer. Their performance samples tunes like “Stop in the Name of Love” and “Superstition.”
To close out the event, the Kenai and Colony bands joined together for a rendition of Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.”
