The sound of drums and familiar songs filled Firemen’s Memorial Field on Monday night as Valley Stream’s high school marching bands took the field for their annual festival, showcasing weeks of practice through performances that blended music and school spirit.
North High School opened its “Light Up the Night” show with Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” its upbeat disco-pop rhythm setting the pace as students moved through their formations under the field lights. The performance also featured “All of the Lights” by Kanye West and “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, part of a student-led process in which band members proposed themes and helped select songs.
For the students, the festival was an opportunity to share their hard work with the community and see how their peers approached the same tradition, each with a different musical style.
David Walsh, a junior at North High School and the marching band’s drum captain, has spent about five years specializing in drum line percussion. He said one of the best parts of the festival is watching the other schools perform.
“It’s just an interesting experience to see what’s going on elsewhere and what people have been working on for the past few months,” Walsh said.
North band director Angelica Ansbacher said students were drawn to songs audiences would recognize, giving listeners something to connect with while allowing the musicians to shape their own performance.
In her sixth year directing the band, Ansbacher said she has seen students take greater ownership of the program. She encourages them to work together and build a sense of community, something she believes extends beyond the music.
For Walsh, marching band offers a different experience from concert and jazz bands, which he also participates in. The combination of musical precision, movement and elaborate formations makes it especially rewarding.
South High School took a funk-inspired approach with “Funky Falcons,” a show developed with input from senior Aiden Ashby, a trumpet player who has been playing for seven years.
The performance featured “Play That Funky Music,” Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” and “I Feel Good,” associated with James Brown. South band director Dan Creegan said he had considered a funk-themed show for years, and Ashby’s suggestion gave him the opportunity to introduce the style to the band.
Ashby said the music challenged students in new ways, particularly with its syncopated rhythms and demanding timing. Musicians had to listen closely to one another to stay together while moving through their formations.
“It’s really just a culmination of every individual becoming a part of something even bigger,” Ashby said.
At Central High School, senior Noeli Crespo found a similar sense of connection through marching band. She joined in her sophomore year after playing alto saxophone since fourth grade and said the experience offered something different from the concert band.
“It’s a very different type of music than concert band, so it’s a cool experience,” Crespo said.
Central’s performance featured a K-pop theme that band director Doug Coleman developed after hearing “Soda Pop” and deciding to build a show around it. He selected two additional songs to complement the theme.
Coleman began teaching in Valley Stream at North High School in 1995 before becoming Central’s band director in 2000. Over the years, he has watched the program evolve, including the challenges it faced during the coronavirus pandemic, when students lost valuable time playing and learning together.
The interruption left students returning to band with different levels of experience. Coleman said rebuilding has required patience and a willingness to adapt his teaching to students’ needs rather than expecting everyone to progress at the same pace.
“You just got to do it with care, and you just adjust your teaching,” he said.
For Coleman, success is measured by how much students improve over the school year.
“By the time we get to June, everybody’s participating and doing the best they can,” he said. “They’re at a completely different level than where they started.”
That progress takes time. Preparations for the festival began in early September, giving students roughly two months to learn their music, memorize their parts and master their movements on the field.
At South, Creegan teaches songs in smaller sections, having students practice with their music before playing from memory. The band learns its music and field formations separately before combining the two, a process that demands repetition and individual practice.
Creegan said this year’s South band is among the strongest he has seen in recent years. Like other school music programs, it has spent years rebuilding after the pandemic disrupted students’ musical development and opportunities to perform together.
The annual festival gives students a chance to demonstrate that growth while bringing the district’s music programs together. Coleman said holding the event in Valley Stream also makes it easier for families to attend and watch their children perform.
For the students, the night was a chance to put weeks of work into practice and experience what makes marching band special: learning to trust one another and creating something that no musician could accomplish alone.
