The El Dorado Band closed its marching season Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Tournament of Bands competition at the Aggie Memorial Stadium.

Their show, Cityscapes, features music from Richard Danielpour, Björk and Alfred Reed. Under the new direction of head director Alex Contreras and assistant director Francisco Pedroza, the Aztecs have worked to perfect their show since the summer.

The marching season began July 9, when band students came to band camp to learn and improve their marching techniques.

“I do remember getting to know some of the other band kids,” said freshman snare Aaron Vasquez. “It was really hot, but a lot of fun.”

Although fun and exciting, many obstacles have been faced over the last four months.

“At first it was difficult to deal with the selection of music,” said junior bass Niclas Gomez. “But within our section, we put a lot of work into making our part sound clean and precise.”

Throughout the season, the band received a superior rating at the Region 22 UIL competition and placed 8th in the Coronado T-Bird Marching Invitational.

“I thought being in finals at Coronado was a good indication that the band was definitely changing skills wise,” said sophomore alto saxophone Noah Aguilar. “Through some more hard work and practice, we’ll be competing at the next level.”

For seniors, this is a bittersweet goodbye to high school marching band.

“After four years of being a part of this great band, I’m proud to say I’ve given my heart to this program,” said senior drum major Paolo Garcia. “I feel no matter what happens, I’ll be happy just being with my friends and family.”

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