In previous years, the Cedar Park Marching Band has been known for putting together marching productions based on happy stories with happy endings. After failing to meet Cedar Park’s “competitive standard” during the 2018 season, 2019 brings a whole new kind of Cedar Park.

The 2019 production for the Marching Ensemble is entitled “Icarus: After the Fall.” This production will tell a story from greek mythology. According to MythWeb, the story goes like this:

Icarus is the Son of Daedalus who dared to fly too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. Daedalus had been imprisoned by King Minos of Crete within the walls of his own invention, the Labyrinth. But the great craftsman’s genius would not suffer captivity. He made two pairs of wings by adhering fathers to a wooden frame with wax. Giving one pair to his son, he cautioned him that flying too near the sun would cause the wax to melt. But Icarus became ecstatic with the ability to fly and forgot his father’s warning. The feathers came loose and Icarus plunged to his death in the sea.

This production was designed to resonate in the minds of not only the audience, but especially, the performers. The fall of Icarus was implemented to resemble the early leave from competition in 2018. There’s a lot of musical composition strengths in the program, and the music portrays the story to exact specifications.

“I want to try to dig up the feelings I had last year at the end of the season and bring it into the show,” rising senior assistant trumpet section leader Mackenzie Vaughn said. “I feel like this theme is something we can all relate to; the feeling of falling and getting back up and eventually being stronger even if we have to sacrifice some things.”

The show will open with “Pavane,” which is an old classical piece. As opposed to building up to the first hit, the audience will hear the mellophones, along with the whole entire brass section, screaming right out of the gates. Following that, The band will play Movement II of “Give Us This Day” by David Maslanka. Postceding “Give Us This Day,” the ballad is comprised of two different songs. The first song used to compose the ballad is “Blackbird” by the Beatles. This is a well-known song in the world, so it will be easy to catch on to for the audience. The second piece is called “One Day I’ll Fly Again.” This piece is used to showcase Icarus earning back his wings, to where he can fly again. The production will close with the positively arranged piece, entitled “Kingfishers Catch Fire,” by John Mackey.

“My favorite piece for this show is ‘Give Us This Day’,” rising junior lead trumpet section leader Khyla Ruskin said. “We played this piece for concert band in the wind symphony, and I’m already very connected to the piece. I’m more than excited to be able to perform this piece on the field.”

In the real story, once Icarus dies, the story ends. In Cedar Park’s case, the story won’t end there. The story will continue, and Icarus will find his wings and he will be able to fly once again.

The first part of the show will introduce the character of Icarus and it will showcase the significance of the brass power. The second part of the show will portray Icarus gaining his wings, and how he proceeds to fly. Midway through the second movement, Icarus will fall, as he flies too close to the gigantic sun prop that will be used on the field. The third part of the show will portray Icarus getting up from the fall and continuing to stay strong, and the production will close with Icarus flying happily once again.

“This story is like no other Cedar Park show ever,” rising senior pit captain Cole Sylvester said. “I’m super excited about all of the music in our repertoire and I’m excited to see what this season has in store for us.”

This year is similar to last year competition wise, as the competition schedule is almost identical. The only competition that the marching band won’t be attending is BOA Waco. Competition this year will be a little different in that the show is more centered for the UIL State Competition. UIL State Champions is a title that the Cedar Park Band has earned in three of their last four appearances. The band is coming in strong, as they have won back to back state championships. The whole program looks to win back to back to back State Championships for the first time in UIL State Marching Championship history.