The Crimson Corps band competed in two major competitions, one in Tennessee on Oct. 22 and another in St. Louis on Oct. 27. The Crimson Corps scored tenth place in the finals in Tennessee and placed sixteenth in the St. Louis ending out the marching band season.

Jovie Duncan, a freshman baritone player for the Crimson Corps, said she looks forward to these upcoming competitions.

“I look forward to all of them but especially the Tennessee one because it’s my first overnight trip with the band,” she said.

The Crimson Corps practices for months each year in advance of the competitions. They traveled 11 hours to Tennessee and three hours to St. Louis to compete for a spot at the finals.

“We spend months and months and hours and hours for an eight-minute performance, it gives you an idea of how we break things down,” Craig Finger, director of bands, said.

Band students have been practicing every morning before school for one hour and forty minutes, along with hour-long sectionals to which they have to commit.

“I do think it is a huge commitment and it is very time-consuming but if you’re willing to take that risk then it’s worth it,” Duncan said. 

Competitions are usually all-day events with a three-hour window to prep for the performance.

“It’s nerve-racking performing and competing with that many people and it’s a really big deal with all those people,” she said. “ but all you need to do is try your best and that’s all you really should do.”

  These performances allow kids to have fun, she said. Additionally, Duncan said it creates a creative environment.

“It’s …  a widespread group of kids who band together,” she said. “Everyone can be themselves and there are a lot of personality types and it’s a place where everyone feels safe.”

Finger said the band is a great way for kids to express themselves and spread beauty.

“There’s a lot of ugly in the world and we’re going to do everything we can to bring in some beauty,” he said.