A dozen marching bands came together to show off their talents at Deaton-Thompson Stadium on Tuesday night for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ 29th Annual Marching Band Jamboree.
The jamboree features the largest collection of musical talent in the district, inviting every WS/FCS marching band to demonstrate their shows for the year and see routines from their neighbors that they may never have gotten to experience otherwise. This year’s performances highlighted artists ranging from Bruno Mars to John Williams to Beyonce to Beethoven, and they took audiences on adventures through raging seas, the lairs of vampires and witches, the peaks of Mount Olympus and more.
The climax of the night was the mass band performance, which brought every school’s musicians, dancers and drum majors together for a joint performance of “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire directed by Area Superintendent Kevin Spainhour. With an ensemble of over 600 performers, it was a grand experience that can only be achieved when an entire district works together.
The Marching Band Jamboree is a celebration of everything that music education has to offer students. Not only did the performers show how much they’ve honed their talents thanks to their schools’ robust music programs, but they also showed how invested they’ve become in their communities by working together to produce something they can be proud of.
Quincy Lundy, the director of Walkertown High School’s band and the jamboree’s opening ceremony, says that it’s a special occasion whenever hundreds of people who don’t know each other are able to come together and enjoy something they all love, and he’s grateful that the jamboree makes that kind of celebration possible.
“Every school works hard on their own, but we rarely get to see each other’s work, and this is a chance to come together on friendly territory and appreciate each other’s talents,” Lundy said. “It’s an important time to celebrate the beauty and the joy of music education.”