By Maya Ekladious & Rebecca Do
Disclosure: Maya Ekladious and Rebecca Do are members of the Fountain Valley Royal Regiment.
The FVRR (Fountain Valley Royal Regiment) placed second at the WBA (Western Band Association) Grand Championships on November 20, 2022, ending their short yet eventful marching season.
The marching band season brought together percussion, color guard, woodwinds and brass players with their shared love and passion for music. The band had four shows this year excluding championships, winning first place in division 3A three out of the four times.
WBA Grand Championships was a two-day event, with class 1A, 2A and 3A championships all taking place at Chaffey High School in Ontario, California.
Their show this year was titled “Where words fail,” which is the first half of the infamous Hans Christen Andersen quote: “Where words fail, music speaks.” The field show incorporates excerpts from Romantic era composer Franz Liszt’s “symphonic poems.”
The first run of the show occurred on Nov. 19th. The band scored 92.250, out of 100 possible, placing second on the first day.
Junior and drum major Michael Moretti saw the action from the back. After the show, they reflected on FVRR’s first-place win.
“Though I was at the fringe of the action, seeing all my friends get so excited was really rewarding for me,” Moretti said.
The second day fared better for the band. Taking “Where words fail” from the top one last time at 5:40 PM, the FVRR drummed and blew their hearts out.
They finished with a score of 93.075, barely losing the gold to Trabuco Hills High School at 93.800.
Senior and color guard co-captain Ashley Do was pleased about the band’s placement.
“We [color guard] all felt really good about our performance. Overall, it was just high energy and really positive…” Do said. “Honestly, I think we should’ve placed first but that’s beside the point. I’m really proud of what the whole band put out there.”
Breaking 90 points, even 80, is a hurdle and a feat that any band would be lucky to hop over and achieve; the FVRR did it twice.
“I know [the marching season] took a long time…a lot of cuts and bruises, a lot of redos and resetting,” Do said. “But ultimately, it was with the people that we loved, surrounding us at all times, struggling together but also finding success together.”
After the performance, the FVRR celebrated their 2nd place with their traditional “senior circle,” in which freshmen, sophomores and juniors played the show as their upperclassmen stood in a circle watching them.
During the senior circle, members were given plastic candles. The seniors passed their electric candle flame onto their underclassmen whilst turning theirs off, symbolizing “passing the flame” to the new class.
Senior and head drum major Catherine Chen reflected on her years in the FVRR as the night went on.
“My favorite memory is probably watching the look on everybody’s faces right after our performance of the show ends because everybody looks so proud and it makes me so happy. I’m gonna miss the collective energy and the collective excitement of every single show and the camaraderie that comes with that much adrenaline,” Chen said.
With that, the FVRR’s 2022-2023 marching season closes the chapter on “Where words fail,” opening a new one next year to let the music speak once again.
“Thank you for four years FVRR, it’s been a pleasure,” Chen said.
