Iolani Marching Band Finishes
an "Excellent" Season
by Richard Hotoke
The Iolani Marching Band capped its se
ason with consecutive "excellent" ratings by a panel of mainland adjudicators who judged their shows at the University of Hawaii and Mililani Marching Band Festivals.
The band was rated with a compilation of scores from three main categories, which included marching, music, and general effect. Twenty marching bands strutted their stuff at the UH Festival, which is not viewed as a competition, but a way to get helpful adjudication from mainland experts, as well as an opportunity to show off their hard work to all the schools who field marching bands.
Dressed as gangs, with different colored bandanas, the marching band presented a West Side Story theme with featured soloists Maki Hattori ('05) on the mellophone, and Lara Malins ('05) on the trumpet.
Adding to the show, was the crowd-pleasing Iolani Dance Team, instructed by Keri Castillo, Libby Gimpel, and Vicky Sakamaki. and the colorguard, instructed by Mr. Bobby King, who formerly choreographed the UH Marching Band colorguard. The fun, but challenging, show was capably led by drum majors, senior Liane Hu, and junior Jonathan Nakasone.
Individual category highlights this season, were the second place awards for the drum line and the colorguard. Congratulations to both hard-working groups!
A Personal Note from Mr. Hotoke
Even though about a third of the band just got back from Molokai in time for the Mililani festival, they sure gave a great effort. The best payoff for me was when our Mililani parent host kept complimenting me on how well behaved our kids were. As we left she said, "Your band represents Iolani very well." I'll take that over any trophy.
