Marching Band Project

The final project for my marching band class that I took in the Fall of 2025, taught by Dr. Cliff Croomes, was to design and write an opener for a marching band show. The show that I created an opener for was entitled "Firefly" and featured music from Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and Owl City's "Firefly". 

Show Explanation

The show explores separation of light and dark, as well as their convergence and the eventual emergence and triumph of light in darkness. The opener starts with the original piano part from movement one of "Moonlight Sonata" and slowly builds up through the front ensemble music. The flute soloist also gets introduced, playing the melody. Throughout this introduction, the brass and woodwinds are split on the field, the brass representing the darkness with their more geometric form and the woodwinds representing darkness with the circular forms.

The music then changes keys, with the brass entering facing back field and the front ensemble quoting the third movement of "Moonlight Sonata" to ramp up the momentum. The battery also enters, outlining the front ensemble and becoming more rhythmically fragmented as the phrase comes to a climax. This section of the opener represents the convergence of light and darkness, with the woodwind and brass forms becoming more similar and moving towards each other. The color guard also plays a role in this convergence, initially serving as a divider between the two sides of the ensemble but then transitioning to the outside of the form as the ensemble comes together.

Once the forms come together, the hit arrives, which fully represents darkness through the pointed, geometric set and the wall of sound. The forms move slowly and with the movement of the music, and then break apart from each other as the music becomes fragmented with echoes of the original melody across the ensemble. As the ensemble moves into the curved form, "Firefly" by Owl City is quoted, representing the initial emergence of light in darkness. Then, as the curved form comes together and connects in the middle of the field, "Firefly" is quoted once again and the ensemble arrives together on a major chord, representing the triumph of light over darkness. 

Below is the show poster as well as the score, midi file, drill video/file, and charts.

Pyware file is linked here