Marching Into Victory
The Millikan Marching band at the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade.
December 20, 2022
This has been an outstanding year for our Millikan Marching Band and Colorguard! The two groups have had exceptional results in their five competitions this year and have even managed to be top five in the California State Band Championships.
With such amazing results, it’s clear that a lot of work had to be put in by these programs. Practice is key in allowing for the band and guard groups to perform at their highest potential.
“We have two after school practices a week, Monday just with Colorguard and Wednesday with the band from 6-9 p.m.,” says QUEST junior and Colorguard captain Samantha Mills. In these practices, there were key components that the Guard and band had to work on.
“The most important component to me that I tried to implement into the team was communication,” said Mills.
The point of these practices and the emphasis on communication is to improve and perform as unified as possible for the competitions they participate in. In these competitions, the ensemble performs for judges that give them a score which decides their placement in their division.
“Our first show was about average for what we normally do but after that, we’ve had really good outcomes that have gone further than we ever have before,” said Millikan band teacher Dolfo Picanco.
In the state championship, they managed to get an 89.6 which got them fifth place! You will soon find our band at home Millikan Basketball games. Congrats to the band and Guard for such an amazing fall season!
Samantha Mills • Feb 2, 2023 at 5:55 pm
On December 20, Liam Hollon wrote an article titled “Marching Into Victory” which goes into detail about Millikan’s marching band and color guard’s successful 2022 season. The group managed to place fifth in state championships, which Hollon mentions along with their many other accomplishments. I am fortunate enough to be one of the captains of the color guard team and to be interviewed for this article to provide some insight on what our season actually consists of. I have been on the team for two years and it has been amazing to see how much each performer grows their skills. This season was an amazing experience to be a part of as each member of both groups along with coaches and staff put their all into the season. Thank you for writing about our record breaking season that many people may have not known about prior to reading this. The article does a great job at describing what our season is like and how much work truly goes into creating a marching band show. I also enjoy the photos you provided in the article, they are great moments that really show what it is like to be part of such a talented and fun group.
Aaniyah Pizarro • Feb 1, 2023 at 9:13 am
On December 20, Liam Hollon wrote an article titled “Marching Into Victory”. The article mentions Millikan’s marching band and color guards outstanding year where they broke their record with a score of 89.6, placing fifth in the state championships. I marched this season playing the trumpet and I agree with Liam that a lot of work was put out into this program. To go from a score of 82 to 89, practice was the key to our success and is heavily emphasized in music and rehearsals. We practice 6th period, Mondays 3-5 pm, Wednesdays 6-9 pm, and Saturdays 9-4 pm. A lot of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice was put into this program and it shows through our amazing performance. I’m glad our coaches adjusted and now understand how Millikan’s marchers work and perform. We made mistakes in the past, but fixed them, and got back to work. Overall I’m glad Hollon that you brought light to Millikan’s marching band and Color guard and for sharing our big accomplishment last year. This year Millikan’s marching band will be better and hopefully we can break a score of 90! Thank you for your post.