Students and staff alike began the 2026 marching band season with a return to band camp.
During the week before the start of school from August 18-22, marching band director Mr. Nicholas Pignataro led new and returning members through a week of new music and new challenges.
“They are really picking up the process of learning,” Pignataro said. “They’re owning the way they learn. Whatever changes happen in the future for new music or new routines, they’ll have a way to pick it up because they have a foundation.”
While the camp itself may only last a week, the planning is a year-round process.
“The music is vetted and picked,” Pignataro said, “We talked with the drill writer to get the show to work. We get music written for us, or we buy music from a publisher. Then after all that, we spend hours planning the schedule, making sure the facilities are ready and open, getting things ordered throughout the summer and throughout the years that it arrives, putting it together, cleaning the spaces, making sure the air conditioning is on.”
Preparation goes beyond the faculty, as student leaders go through their own training to prepare for leadership.
“We did a lot of tasks that went normal band camp, such as putting together folios and dot sheets, and also going through some leadership training with Mr. Pignataro,” flute section captain and student director Katie Snyder said. “It was a really good week that prepared us and helped us be ready to not necessarily being a master at the museum of the drill, but be able to be at a point where we could teach the other students.”
Band camp requires a large amount of responsibility for members as the new show is introduced.
“We were outside for long hours, but people just stuck with it,” Snyder said. “They got to practice on time. They were always where they needed to be, had their equipment, and if someone forgot, there was always a leader there who could help them out.”
New members are faced with the challenge of learning everything for the first time.
“I expected it to be a little hard,” drumline member freshman Jacob Graden said, “I knew it was for a long while each day, but I also heard good things about Mr. Rudolph, which were true.”
To wrap up the week before the first halftime show, the band conducted its annual marching competition, which junior and drumline member Will Walker won.
“I lament that it had to go to video review,” Pignataro said. “But I’m glad that the video review made sure that the right winner won.”
Snyder believes hard work and changes added cohesion, making this year’s band camp special.
“I think that this is our best band camp yet,” Snyder said.
DISCLAIMER: Reporter is a member of the marching band.
