by Darcy Burford
Daily Lobo
UNM Spirit Marching Band students were at University Stadium on Saturday morning at 6:45 setting up for the 27th annual Zia Marching Band Fiesta.
The fiesta, organized by the UNM Music Department, is a marching band competition for high schools from New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Nevada. Thirty-one bands competed this year, but only one walked away with the 3-foot first place trophy.
Rio Rancho High School won first place and took two other awards in general and visual effects. The students' show was based on a Las Vegas production of Cirque du Soleil, which band members got to see in a trip to Sin City. The students worked on their show since August, and said their hard work paid off.
Wesley Henderson, a Rio Rancho senior, said he has been working toward this goal for four years.
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"It's about time," he said. "We're really stoked, because it's never happened at Rio Rancho before. We've never won."
UNM marching band students also planned this event for months. Students had different jobs during the day to help keep the performances running smoothly.
Tawnia Saran, a piccolo player at UNM, spent the day escorting bands to and from the field. Saran participated in Zia as a high school student and now helps run the competition.
"I miss the competition part of it," she said. "But it's fun seeing the other side of how things work here."
The Air Academy High School band traveled seven hours from Colorado Springs, Colo., to be a part of the fiesta.
Caroline Gibson, flute section leader and Air Academy senior, said the band rehearsed 21 hours for every minute of its show.
But she said she was not disappointed the band didn't win.
"I don't think we really need to win first place, because I think we went out and did the best show possible," Gibson said. "And I think we made all of our directors and ourselves proud."
Susan Brake, an administrative assistant for the UNM Music Department, said Zia is an educational experience, because each band receives comments from judges.
"They're always positive comments, which they can take back and work on to improve their physical experience and their marching experience," Brake said.
Five internationally recognized judges decided on the winners. Bands that would not normally participate in this competition are often drawn to Zia because of the judges, Brake said.
The fee for competing was $300 per band and benefits the UNM Music Department.
Jorge Gonzales has been in marching band for eight years and not only plays drums for UNM, but teaches band at two Albuquerque high schools. He sold programs Saturday to raise extra funds for the band.
"I tell the kids to have fun, because if you have fun, you work harder," Gonzales said. "If you push them to do marching band, they drop out. We want to keep them all so we can recruit them for next year. We want to give them a good feeling about band."
