GPHS Band and Guard

In this article, Melanie discusses the Grants Pass Marching Band and Color Guard's 2025 fall season and successes this year.

Another Successful Season

By: Melanie Campbell

Throughout the years, the Grants Pass Marching Band and Color Guard have accomplished highly successful seasons. This season, they took home first place in both nationals and their competition in Sacramento, California. Last year, they also took home first in all of their competitions, including the NWAPA finals. This year, the show, called Swan Song, was based on the famous classical ballet Swan Lake, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The team spent months developing this show, and once again knocked the other bands out of the park during all of their competitions.

Picture of a trumpet. Image from musicalinstrumenthire.com

The show was written by Mr. Norfleet, and was directed around the idea of finding your inner self. There was a lot of emotion incorporated into the choreography. The show included a part featuring "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys, centered around this main idea, with the choreography depicting varying emotions. Some moments in the show came off lighter, while other moments had a more morose tone, followed by the idea of redemption.

This season consisted of five competitions. Their first was PCI, at Sprague High School, as well as PNW at Grants Pass High School. Championships were held in a different location this year. This year, it was held at Hillsboro, instead of University of Oregon’s Autzen Stadium. Autumn Lewis, a GPHS color guard member, described championships as a high-energy event. The GPHS team also traveled all the way to Sacramento, staying at Albert Einstein High School, showing off their refined skills to the people of California. Once again, they placed first in every competition.

When asked why band was important to him as a student in high school, Grants Pass Marching Band Director Mr. Norfleet said it was the most important activity to him in school because all of his friends were there and they got to make music together and create a community. He also stated that Band and Guard is important to the Grants Pass community because it has been around for a long time, which leaves many members of the community with personal connections to the band and they are able to relate to the program in some way. When asked what she loved most about the band, Emma Green, a senior band member, said that she loves performing and seeing performances. Performances can affect people in an emotional way, and that is the most important part of Band and Guard to many of the members.

During an interview with Autumn Lewis (Senior, Guard Captain), Lillyan Perez (Senior, Guard Captain), Athena Mendez (Junior Drum Major), and Mia Bartscher (Senior), discussing the season with the Band and Guard leadership, they all stated that their favorite section of the performance was part two, the ballad that they described as a section of the show that displayed a lot of emotions. When asked her favorite highlight of the season, Lewis explained how she was grateful to grow closer with different members of the team that she had not talked to before, but became closer with this season. Mendez said that she enjoyed getting to know the whole band again as a drum major. Overall, they all enjoyed getting to grow closer with their teammates this season.

Silhouette of Color Guard. Image from ar.inspiredpencil.com

The Grants Pass Marching Band and Color Guard has always been a highlight of our district. It is widely considered to be one of the best in the Pacific Northwest. Despite its large size, the Band and Guard are a close-knit community, which is a large contributor to their consistent success. Their success spans beyond the music into the energy and effort they apply to every practice and performance, which comes from the unity of every student in the Grants Pass Marching Band and Color Guard.

Sources:

Interview with Autumn Lewis
Interview with Athena Mendez
Interview with Emma Green
Interview with Lillyan Perez
Interview with Mia Bartscher
Interview with Mr. Norfleet

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