Marla Manes Plays A Major Role This Year For The Sound Of Pride

Photos Courtesy Of: Marla Manes

BY LOUIS DENNIN

Every year, the Sound of Pride selects drum majors to lead and serve the band. It is the drum major’s job to guide the band and represent it with confidence. Standing proudly atop their podium on opposite ends of the field, marking the tempo with their hands, the band relies on the drum major in order to stay together when performing their shows. Each year a new member of the band rises to the prestigious role and this year that is sophomore Marla Manes.

Drum majors are members of the band who are responsible for acting as leaders for the rest of the band and conducting the band while on the field.  It’s their job to maintain tempo during shows and rehearsals in order to keep the entire band in time.

“It’s an opportunity to look at the program from a different perspective and see the details no one else realizes,” Manes said.

Music has been a part of Manes’s life for as long as she can remember. She has two older siblings that are also involved in music, so she picked up her passion from an early age. She recalls that ever since she could speak, she has been singing and acting in plays.

“As soon as I could start singing or pick up an instrument, I did,” Manes said.

The summer before third grade, Manes attended a band camp where she played the trumpet. The year after she picked up the French horn. She continued to play the French horn throughout middle school and still plays it in the CCHS wind ensemble.

It was after band director Christopher Schletter gave a speech about leadership that Manes decided to try out for the position of drum major. She decided that it was the position where she could do the most to help the program. Soon after, she filled out an application form and was interviewed by the staff.

The waiting process took most of the summer. It was a highly anticipated wait for all of the aspiring leaders in the band. However, after the long wait Manes was announced to be the second drum major for the 2012 marching season, along with senior Sydney Bleiweiss.

“It’s always difficult to choose a drum major,” Schletter said, “You’re basically trying to predict the future as to whether or not they’ll be able to convince the band to follow them.”

Being the drum major of a band is not an easy task, especially as a sophomore. The band is always watching the drum major and they must be a shining example of leadership. This, top of the new schedule, and having no prior drum major experience makes the job a challenging one.

“The biggest challenge for me is the pressure to always have to be perfect.” Manes said.

Despite the challenges, Marla has worked hard to achieve success and is now leading the band, giving speeches and conducting them just as the drum majors before her have done. She feels a powerful sense of honor in the title and finds that looking over her “family” is a tremendous joy.

“(Manes) has done well; she’s getting used to it,” Bleiweiss said. “She’ll be able to get a lot accomplished by the time she graduates.”

A tremendous milestone of her drum major career was the band’s first competition of the year at the Falcon Sound Invitational. Though it was a big event, it was a chance for the program to grow and measure everyone’s progress since the first day of the year.

“The first competition of the season was really exciting.” Manes said. “It was also huge for me personally because it was my first one as drum major, but it was also huge for the band too.”

Another large event for Manes were the moments after the show at Santaluces High School in November. Though CCHS did not win the overall competition,

Manes received several compliments from fellow band members regarding her skills as a drum major. It was a huge moral boost for everyone involved in the program and was a very emotional moment for the students, especially Manes.

“I’ve learned so much as a drum major and I’m always looking ahead,” said Manes, “Every aspect of it makes me more and more excited for next season.”