Maliah Henry and Samuel McClarn will end their high school marching band careers this week in northern France.
The 18-year-old Dutchtown High School seniors and their bandmates will perform Tuesday during ceremonies commemorating the 79th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, after competing against hundreds of other marching bands for the honor.
“Who else gets to say they went to France at the end of their high school career?” said McClarn, who plays trumpet and plans to attend Tennessee State University this fall where he will major in health sciences.
Henry said the D-Day performance will be her marching band swan song. A clarinet player and drum major, Henry will study visual arts when she goes to North Carolina A&T in the fall and does not plan to continue with band.
“I never would have thought something like this would happen,” she said, adding that she’s giving up band because of the time commitment it demands. “I think this is the best way to call an end to it.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
There will be multiple ceremonies recognizing the World War II battle, in which Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and fought for three months to liberate France from Hitler’s occupying German forces.
The Dutchtown band will march in the celebration’s main event — the about 2-mile long D-Day Memorial Parade. It will also perform at cemetery ceremonies surrounding the commemoration, and at festivities in Paris.
“It is just now hitting home to them that we are leaving,” Adrian Adams, the school’s band director, said shortly before the group of about 100 students left for Europe. “Throughout the year they have been excited, but now they are pinching themselves because it feels more real.
“And they have been humble about it and very intentional,” he added. “But even more than that, they have showcased our school in such a positive way.”
The students spent much of the year raising the about $3,800 each needed to make the trip, Adams said. That included pitching the band’s story to media to raise awareness, and hitting up supportive local residents.
“We really thank them for what they have done because they’ve assisted in creating such a momentous opportunity for these students,” Adams said.
Adams, who came to the school in July, said he has worked the students hard to make sure they are ready.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Building on the work of his predecessors — Wolson Gustama and Jeffrey Hughley — Adams had the students march in a parade at Morris Brown College as part of a dry run.
The band also has marched in parades for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and performed at Six Flags Over Georgia and the University of South Carolina. In addition, the band held practice parades on the school’s campus for much of the school year, Adams said.
He also pushed daily calisthenics to prepare the students for the rigors of marching with heavy instruments while simultaneously wearing uniforms in the summer heat.
But most importantly, he said, he drilled the fundamentals of music, including articulation and intonation, over and over.
“I teach them every day that 100% is expected,” said Adams, 35. " But in order to step out of your comfort zone, you have to move past 100%. And I think they have done that.”
Among the tunes they will perform are Florida A&M University’s “Total Praise,” Samuel Hazo’s “Psalm 42,” and John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen,” as well as a mashup of tunes from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, jazz/R&B artists Pieces of a Dream.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The students, who leave June 2 and come back June 8, will have some down time to be tourists. They will visit the beaches of Normandy, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Montmartre, among other sites.
The trip will a be a first for Adams and McClarn, both of whom have never been out of the country. Henry went to France for the first time a year ago with a Girl Scouts troop.
“I feel like we 100% deserve this,” McClarn said. “We have been working hard all year. We really built up this program and now it’s really showing.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
