r Two Spanish Fork area high schools earned State Championship honors at the Red Rock Invitational Marching Band Competition on November 3, in St.George.
50 bands from all over Utah, as well as some surrounding states, came to the Utah Music Educators Association sponsored competition. Bands compete in separate divisions based on their size.
Spanish Fork High School took first place in the 1A Division and Maple Mountain placed first in the 2A division. Each school competed against 10 other bands.
Kristine Harris, a band parent and publicity coordinator wrote in a press release, “For the first time ever (that we can find in school history) Spanish Fork High School took 1st place in the Red Rocks Invitational and Outstanding Caption in Color Guard. Also, in addition to these prestigious awards, the band also claimed the title of 1A State Marching Band Champions from the UMEA.”
Harris said this year’s show was entitled “Conspiracy Theory” and featured some well-known “conspiracies” portrayed in props and music selection. Spanish Fork plays under the direction of Clint Roberts.
“Everyone is very proud of our talented musicians and very grateful for our fabulous director and all they have accomplished together over the years and especially this marching season,” Harris said.
Maple Mountain’s state title was also the first in school history. Maple Mountain’s director, Joshua Hurst said, “Coming into Maple Mountain High School as a first-year director with brand new staff and more than half the band participating in marching band for the first time was quite a challenge.”
The Maple Mountain show was titled “Under Construction.” Hurst said, “Our motto for the year was ‘Can we build it? Yes we can!!’ My goal for my first year was to set a new kind of standard for achieving excellence, and together we made history as our name was announced over the speaker as the state champions in 2A for the first time in the school’s history.”
Maple Mountain band member Alex Martinez said of the experience, “This has been one of the best years of my life. Marching band this season was better than any other season. Marching band has brought to me a lot of happiness, from making new friends to having people I can count on. Marching band is a place where I can get away from everyone and everything. I can get away from stress in my life and frustrating things. I would like to thank all the staff and my band family for all of the years of laughter and fun. I sadden to leave, but I’m glad that this was the band family, the staff, and the season I ended on.”
