Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28, Lake Orion Performance Ensemble (LOPE) Auxiliary Guard, Open Guard and Lake Orion Percussion competed at the Michigan Color Guard Circuit State Championship. All three groups competing from Lake Orion Community Schools placed in the top three of their class.
The LOPE Auxiliary Guard, taught by Ben Clark, the Assistant Marching Band Director for the Lake Orion Marching Band (LOMB), is in its second year of existence. Students are middle and elementary school students from Lake Orion, many of whom had no previous experience in color guard. They rehearsed three times per week at various locations throughout the school district.
The LOPE Open Guard is in its third year of existence, but in its first year in open class. They are instructed by Blair Kuhn, who is the color guard instructor for the LOMB. The group also competed in a number of Michigan Color Guard Circuit competitions, as well as two World Guard International events, in Troy and Indianapolis, IN, leading up to the state championships. They are competing in April at the WGI World Championships in Dayton, OH.
Lake Orion Percussion is in its first year. The ensemble is an extension of the LOMB and provides the percussionists a chance to continue to perform during the winter months. Twenty-six Lake Orion High School band members, who normally perform on such instruments as flute, horn and saxophone, attended five competitions leading up to the state finals.
The students were taught by a team of instructors, including the percussion staff of the LOMB, Nick Matthews, Jake Pratt and Paul Loos.
‘I am extremely proud of these programs, the students and staff. The time they all put into these activities is tremendous and their skills are awesome,? said Band Director Mike Steele.
He added, ‘It is also important to recognize the parents who participate at these ensembles, not only getting students to rehearsals but also being actively involved moving, storing, loading, building, painting and sewing everything from uniforms, to large Ouija pieces that move across the floor, to flags and six-foot terra cotta warriors.?
The LOPE Auxiliary Guard placed third in the state. The LOPE Open Guard placed second in the state in the first year of competing in Open Class. And the Lake Orion Percussion students were crowned State Champions in Scholastic A Class in the first year of competition.
– Submitted