Bentonville students prepare for national band competition

The Bentonville Pride Marching Band is preparing to travel to Indianapolis to compete in the Bands of America Grand National Championships.

The Bentonville High School band of 226 students will be one of 99 bands to compete in the championships Thursday through Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

"I think they're going to do a great job," said Tim Hendrix, Bentonville High School director of bands.

Bands of America is an Indianapolis-based nonprofit with the mission of providing music for all, according to the organization's website. More than 1 million people are alumni of Bands of America marching band events, the first of which were held in 1976.

Lake Hamilton High School from Pearcy is the only other Arkansas school participating, according to the competition schedule.

There were no prequalifiers to compete in the event, Hendrix said, but the band also performed its Grand National competition piece Oct. 22-23 at the Bands of America Super Regional Championship at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis.

Students practiced about 600 hours to prepare to perform "Opus 48," a nine-minute piece that tells the story of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven's progression to becoming deaf, Hendrix said.

"What we're trying to do is put you on a journey as a listener," he said. "As the show keeps on progressing, it kind of starts to break down and then we have these really high-pitch squeal sounds. It's kind of like a tinnitus sound in the ear. Then eventually the band just stops playing, but they're moving and it's kind of to represent that Beethoven's gone deaf."

Fifty-eight bands from 14 states competed in the Super Regionals, including 150 students with Bentonville's West High School Midnight Regiment Marching Band and 170 students with Fayetteville High School's Competitive Marching Band, administrators said.

Bentonville placed 10th overall in the competition, which was won by Broken Arrow High School of Oklahoma, according to event results.

"We haven't done this well since 2015 when we were just one high school," Hendrix said. "That year we placed sixth."

Fayetteville placed 22nd with its piece "The Crown," said Brett Lawson, Fayetteville High School's director of bands. The eight-minute piece has a royalty theme.

"We had 18 giant chess pieces that actually moved around throughout the show," he said. "It's almost become like a Broadway production -- a little bit more than just playing and marching."

West placed 27th overall and performed "Beyond the Sea," an approximately eight-minute piece that tells a story involving sea creatures, said Albert Ortiz, West High School director of bands.

"The students go on a journey, and they encounter some troublesome waters," he said. "At the end of the show, the sea overtakes them."

There were no prequalifiers to attend Super Regionals, Hendrix said, noting Bands of America competitions are open to any school that signs up.

It cost $400 per student to attend Super Regionals, Lawson said.

Super Regionals was good preparation for students competing in Grand Nationals, many of whom had never performed in such a large venue, Hendrix said.

"The kids having that experience of going into a professional NFL arena and participating in front of 10,000 people, you just can't replicate that," he said.

The Dome at America's Center was the home of the St. Louis Rams before the NFL franchise relocated to Los Angeles in 2016.

Performing in such spaces is how marching bands are best appreciated, said Ahmed Khan, 17, of Bentonville.

"It's the celebration aspect -- just performing in front of others, showcasing everything that you've done," he said.

Khan, a Bentonville High senior, said he's played the tuba since seventh grade and first attended Grand Nationals as a freshman.

"That was probably my favorite band moment ever," he said, adding the band placed 22nd in the semifinals that year. "It was an amazing experience."

The top 32 bands will qualify for the Grand Nationals semifinals, Hendrix said. The top 12 will be showcased Nov. 13. Winners receive trophies.

Khan said he anticipates Bentonville's band will have its best showing ever at Grand Nationals this year.

"Everyone's been putting in time outside of our already extremely heavy rehearsal schedules to make sure that people and their sections and the band as a whole does really well," he said.

The Bands of America competitions weren't held last year because of the covid-19 pandemic, Ortiz said.

"Those types of venues obviously weren't available last year, and so some students missed out on the opportunity to perform in a venue where professionals perform," he said. "To be able to walk out onto the field in a place like that and give the kids the opportunity to experience performing in front of thousands of fans and thousands of people who are there just to see them, it's really an incredible feeling."

Super Regionals presented an opportunity for more than half of Fayetteville's band to travel with a competitive band for the first time, Lawson said.

"Last year, this time last year, we didn't have to travel at all because of covid restrictions," he said. "To be able to travel and to get to go to St. Louis and charter buses was a really big deal."