When junior Sydney Bacon started this school year, she never imagined finding herself in front of various crowds holding a pair of cymbals. 

Sydney is one of eight band members that got asked to join the drumline when they perform their famous fifth quarter performance. Being in the drumline included crashing the cymbals after each football game, during Bandtasia, at the Forest Hills Foundation Gala, and also in various school assemblies.  

She wasn’t sure she was up for it at first, but in the end, she truly enjoyed the experience.

“The first couple times I [performed], I was nervous just because we had never done it [in front of a crowd] before,” Sydney said. “We were all like, ‘What if we mess up?’ But after a while, we kind of got used to it and learned the music; we’ve been going to zero hour, which was a lot of fun. But after a while, we just got the hang of it, and I personally really enjoyed it.” 

Though she has taken on a new role in the band this year in terms of instruments, Sydney is still a clarinet player at heart. 

With this in mind, marching band season and concert band season embody different atmospheres—concert band includes more technique in terms of music, and marching band including more community bonding and marching techniques. 

“During band camp and marching season,” Sydney said, “the band is kind of like a whole community, and we’re all just hanging out with each other. There’s [also] a little [bit of] section rivalry here and there.” 

As the 2021 marching season comes to a close, Sydney is excited to have a chance to work on her skills as a clarinetist in concert band. She enjoys that the songs played in concert band are longer and that the class is less repetitive than the marching season’s music. 

However, this is not the last time the band will be showing off their hard work in the marching season this year; in February, the entire band will fly to Florida to perform their halftime show while marching in a parade in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

“I haven’t been to Disney that much—I’ve been there once,” Sydney said, “but I feel like this will be a whole different experience with the band and marching with a bunch of different people that we haven’t marched with before; performing on a sort of international stage for people [will be fun]. And I’m excited because I get to hang out with my section.” 

Being invited to play for the world is a huge honor for the band, and Sydney is thrilled to have this experience. The FHC Band has gone to Disney to play in the parade every four years, giving each grade an opportunity to perform at one point in their high school band career. 

Fitting for their long-anticipated trip to Disney, the halftime show theme this season was “The Magic of Disney.” 

“I was excited [about the Disney theme]—I like Disney,” Sydney said. “I wasn’t sure what songs we were gonna play, but once I found out that the theme was Disney, I assumed they would be good.” 

In fact, Sydney might end up making a more permanent appearance in the drumline next year. Though nothing is final, she is hoping she can be a part of both the clarinets and the drumline. 

“Most likely, if I switch [instruments],” Sydney said, “I’d be playing the bass drum or snare, and I would just be doing fifth quarter and stand cheers. I wouldn’t be marching [in the halftime show with the percussion] because the clarinet section needs leadership that is [more experienced] than sophomores.” 

Whatever Sydney ends up doing, the band is a community she cherishes. With all that goes on in the band activities, she can confidently say, “What happens at Band Camp, stays at Band Camp.” 

“Band is all over the place,” Sydney said, “[and] everyone is all over the place because everyone has different personalities. The sections merge together, there’s section rivalry, and people are all over the place, but it’s fun.”