The (2022-23) De Soto High School (DHS) marching Wildcats are conducted by drum majors, Anna D’Andrea, Lauren Fandre and Addie Warnes.

The band has great potential this year, with their show Earth Songs. The band has put immense time and effort into producing an excellent show for competitions and home football games.

“I was a little apprehensive that our added hours would cause a bit of pushback, but everyone, even the freshman, faced work with great attitudes and it resulted in us getting so much more done,” Drum Major Anna D’Andrea said.

The band has been working on their show ever since band camp during the second to last week of summer

Band camp this year had very long days starting at 7:30 am and ending around 8:30 pm. However, the band did get two long breaks for lunch and dinner.

During this time band students focused on intense practice on everything from marching, playing and musicality on the field.

“This summer it was evident that the band had a drive to succeed as we learned half of our opening drill and had performed almost all the music,” Drum Major Lauren Fandre said. “It’s also great to see how spirited and excited everyone is for our rehearsals. It really shows how passionate people are about being in band.”

The band has been able to teach its freshmen how to march and play in record time for DHS. This also helps the band progress more quickly  than ever; this year they will have two sets on the field with visuals by the first game. They usually only have one set, with very little visual focus.

“This year’s marching season has been going really great so far. Being a drum major allows me to see how quickly the show is progressing and how cool it is to be able to contribute to the improvement,” Drum Major Addie Warnes said.

However, the drum majors are not the only people pushing for this success– the band’s leadership team is hard at work with their sections, making sure that they are giving the band their all, and doing so effectively.

“Being a leader in band is a lot of fun, it has been a lot easier to learn and teach this year, because there are so many more people that have marching experience than last year,” senior Ryan Lange said. “I am excited for the first home football game so we can show everyone how much we have accomplished so far.”

All in all, the Marching Wildcats first show set the season off with a blast. The Marching Wildcats are looking forward to a competitive and accomplished 2022-23 season.