Band Alumni News

 

Wareham band performs at UMass Amherst

October 22, 2007

Imagine 3,500 musicians marching onto a football field and playing a song they had learned just hours before.Some might conjure an image of noise and chaos, but Kevin McQuade disagrees. He watched — and heard — 55 high school, three middle school and an elementary school band perform together at UMass Amherst’s football stadium last Saturday.

He said the sound was beautiful, not noisy.

“There’s no words to describe it,” said Mr. McQuade, a member of the Wareham Band Boosters and father of two members of the Wareham High School Viking Marching Band, which performed at the 23rd annual Band Day on Oct. 13 and gave high school bands the chance to perform in front of college-sized crowds.

The band members assembled for a rehearsal Saturday morning before the UMass-Villanova football game. At halftime, all 3,500 band members took the field to perform “A Whole New World” from Disney’s “Aladdin.”

The UMass Amherst Minutemen marching band performed for the students after the game.

The Wareham Band Boosters supports music groups throughout the Wareham school district, Mr. McQuade said. The organization helps the band fund trips to events such as Band Day.

The band and supporters are currently raising money for an April trip to Philadelphia.

By JENNIFER LADE
The Standard-Times
October 22, 2007