Largest Creston band in 21 years prepares for ‘colorful’ field show

It's loud. And big. And awesome.

That’s how Creston senior Emma Saylor describes the fourth and final movement of this year’s Panther Marching Band field show, “Imagination in Color.”

“It’s not like one of those songs that dies down for a little bit,” she said. “No, it’s in your face all the time.”

Saylor, who alternates between percussion and baritone saxophone, is one of 10 seniors leading this year’s band. At 105 members — 35 of them new — director Mike Peters said it’s the largest he has conducted in his 21 years at Creston Schools. It’s also one of the most rapidly progressing.

“By the first home (football) game we should have half the show on the field,” Peters said. “That’s never happened this early. Never.”

The field show uses tunes from the Cirque du Soleil show “Quidam.” Peters and his wife, color guard director Lisa Peters, designed the formations and choreography to use the band’s new black uniforms and the color guard’s gray uniforms as the backdrop for flags and streamers that add vivid splashes of color.

“With the all-black and the gray, it makes it ‘Boom’ — just explode off the field,” he said.

Peters said the idea for this concept came from listening to the music, which reminded him of splashes of color. But he said the band finds the concept humorous considering one detail.

He’s colorblind.

In fact, that irony helped inspire the show’s title.

“I don’t see the colors, but I can still imagine them,” Peters said. “I was saying this to the kids when it dawned on me. That’s what it should be about, me imagining all these colors.”

Peters said the show also includes some new uses of sound effects, a voiceover and body visuals. Juniors Livi Hartman and Tyler Peters and senior Madison Hance have solos during the show. The final movement, “Incantation,” has an Arabian feel and shows the strength of the low brass and woodwinds section, which includes 12 marching baritones, three tenor saxophones, two baritone saxophones and four tubas.

When all is said and done, Peters said it’s one of the more difficult shows the band has done.

“There’s a lot of motion, a lot of running, a lot of expectation,” Peters said. “But I think they can handle it.”

The Panther Marching Band has a rich history of “handling it,” too. This year, the group will vie for its 27th consecutive I rating at state competition.

Senior alto saxophone player Ann Waigand said the band’s consistent success is a credit to Peters’ leadership.

“Mr. Peters knows what we’re capable of, and he will push us to that point — and then beyond even — to make sure that we know what we’re doing,” Waigand said.

Senior color guard member Jocelyn Kunz added that the band is an environment where the students — a diverse group that includes football players, basketball players, cross-country runners and more — are one big family.

“We all get along and we can push each other, and I think that’s what helps us,” she said. “It’s a good environment to be in, a happy environment.”

Saylor said the band is also hungry to bounce back from some disappointment last year.

“Last year we got to Clarinda and we didn’t do so well, and it hurt,” she said. “Feeling that, I think, really helped push us forward.”

Peters said the leadership of the upperclassmen who know how winning is done helps the band maintain its continuity.

“The kids know what to expect,” he said. “It hasn’t changed, and we work at trying to make it perfect every time.”

The first opportunity to hear the Creston Panther Marching Band will be the Sept. 4 home football game. See the sidebar for a complete list of performances.