Drum majors Matthew Hampton, Noah Haefner and Cossette Hart prepare for one of the Northrop High School band’s final rehearsals of the 2022 season. The Big Orange Pride performs at 4:43 p.m. Saturday in the ISSMA Scholastic Class A Finals at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis.

Story and photo by Garth Snow

As the sun moved westward and the October chill began to fall on the Northrop High School parking lot, the Big Orange Pride filled the evening with motion and music.

The band would march through five run-thrus the evening of Oct. 20, adding yet another day of rehearsal to a grueling process that began June 13 with practice for summer festivals.

The outdoor rehearsals now draw to a close, as the band packs up and boards buses for Indianapolis on Saturday. It marks an end to a season of beginnings. In fact, the band’s 2022 show is titled “A New Beginning.”

The band will perform at 4:43 p.m. Saturday at the Indiana State School Music Association Scholastic Class A Finals at Franklin Central High School, 6215 S. Franklin Road, Indianapolis. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for students and preschoolers.

Between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., 22 bands will perform in Class B Finals and 22 in Class A Finals. Bands are divided into class according to school enrollment and band size. Like Northrop, bands earned the invitation to state finals by receiving Gold ratings at Scholastic Class Prelims on Oct. 8. Also traveling to the ISSMA finals from northeast Indiana are: Manchester, Class B, 12:36 p.m.; Snider, Class A, 5:22 p.m.; and Wayne, Class A, 7:06 p.m.

First-year director Rachel Thorson and first-year assistant Alex Whitehead have guided the 94 members of the Big Orange Pride through the year of discovery and growth. Thorson, who has served as an assistant in the past, stepped into the role of acting director in the middle of last school year. Whitehead has served on the tech staff.

All three drum majors also are new in their roles. Noah Haefner and Mathew Hampton are seniors. Cossette Hart is a junior.

“We have come further than I expected we could have this year,” Haefner said. He agreed the band is reaching top form just in time for state finals.

“We’re excited. We’ve been working for this the entire season,” he said.

He tries not to think about the pressure of state competition, to which Northrop advanced just last year. “It’s really not too different from a normal competition,” he said. “The only difference is there are about 20 other Scholastic A bands there, and it’s really cool to get to see their programs and what they’re doing with music and marching.”

“This is a pretty young group,” he said. “I don’t remember the number of first-year marchers. And in ’20 and ’21 we didn’t get a lot of experience, but they’ve developed a lot and we have grown in our marching and our musicality and also in personalities I’ve seen people grow into the people they are now.”

“I think Mrs. Thorson and Mrs. Whitehead have been great for this program. They’ve really turned this program around,” Haefner said. “They both have a vision for this band and they’re both really working hard to make that vision happen.”

Hampton, the the other senior drum major, said throughout the year “we’ve gotten better and gotten closer, especially as a band.”

The Scholastic Class A and B champions will be invited to perform in exhibition at the 49th Indiana State Marching Band Finals on Nov. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.