Mainstreams: 728 Cadets ‘Rise’ Continues

Special to the Star News

The 728 Cadets have enjoyed another spectacular marching season, knocking off two of their goals by retiring two grand champion awards.

This feat is achieved by earning Grand Champion awards for three consecutive years.

The marching band, composed of students from Elk River, Rogers and Zimmerman middle and high schools as well as Spectrum High School, retired a traveling flag from the Vikingland Band Festival in Alexandria and the Owat-onia trophy from the Henry Wenger and Waconia Band Festivals.

In total this season, the Cadets have earned 42 awards, including 15 awards for Grand Champion and First Place, nine for Best Color Guard, eight for Best Drumline, three for Best Winds, two for Best Drum Major, one for Best Marching and three for People’s Choice.

Cindy Martin, a member of the 728 Cadets marching band board of directors, credits the band members’ hard work and dedication.

Over the past month and a half, the Cadets have competed in parades across the state of Minnesota, and in St. Louis, Missouri, marching in the Veiled Prophet Parade on July Fourth.

728 Cadets ‘Rise’ to the occasion

The Cadet’s show, “Rise,” tells the story of the phoenix, a fiery bird from ancient mythology. The phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor in a constant cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

The show’s first movement includes the music “Dies Irae,” from “Requiem” by Giuseppe Verdi, and depicts the phoenix in the final moments of its life, collapsing in flame and losing its wings.

During the second movement, the band performs an arrangement of “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber and portrays mourning the phoenix’s death. The final movement illustrates the triumphant rise of the phoenix from the ashes with “Festive Overture” by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Cadets’ co-directors, Michael Reed and Joe Jaeger, sought to challenge musicians with this repertoire, marrying the demanding music with bold visual elements and artistic movement, including a colorful representation of the phoenix weaving through the performance.

The Cadets’ first major success came on June 20, when competing in the Harry Wenger Band Festival in Owatonna and the Lake Waconia Band festival in Waconia. In the morning, at the Owatonna festival, the Cadets won many caption awards, as well as the People’s Choice Award, but came in third overall.

That evening, the Cadets rallied at the Waconia festival, earning first place in their class, winning all caption awards, and received the day’s second People’s Choice award.

With the Waconia victory, the Cadets achieved the highest combined score of the two festivals that day, taking home the prestigious Owat-onia Award and earning the right to retire the traveling trophy and keep it.

The Cadets traveled June 28 to Alexandria, home of the Vikingland Band Festival, one of the largest street marching band competitions in the Midwest. They received first place in Class AAAA and were awarded Grand Champion of the festival for the third year in a row; giving the honor of retiring both the AAAA class flag and the festival’s Grand Champion flag.

The Cadets are the fourth band in Vikingland Band Festival’s 30-year history to retire the Grand Champion flag. Other bands that have retired the flag are Litchfield (1989), Irondale (1993, 1996) and Waconia (2006).

“The Cadets are known for bringing a conceptual production to life on the streets and holding themselves to a high performance standard,” Martin said.

In a recent article in the St. Cloud Times, Tom Haugen of Tri-State Judges Association said about Minnesota, “It is the only state in the United States that has a competitive marching parade program.” Assistant judge, Lane Powell, added: “People don’t get that this is truly unique to Minnesota. … They (bands) do shows in the street. You go to Iowa, this won’t happen; they just do a straight traditional march through.”

When the Cadets recently traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, and marched in the Veiled Prophet Parade on Independence Day, the parade attendees were captivated by the Cadets’ performance on the streets.

Reed summarized their show, saying: “The 728 Cadets have always been a crowd favorite. We built upon our past successes and created a challenging production for all members and still provided a show that was entertaining, but had a real message at the same time.

“By providing a challenging repertoire and visual theme, we brought to life a memorable experience for our members and the fans on the streets where we marched.”

About the Cadets

The 728 Cadets Marching Band is made up of 93 students from District 728 schools, including Elk River, Rogers and Zimmerman middle and high schools and Spectrum High School.

“In addition to the educational value they receive from their instructors, the students enjoy the excitement their performances bring to events as well as the relationships they build through meeting other students across the school district and from other bands,” Martin said.

In fact, during a rain delay during this year’s Rosefest Parade, the Cadets enjoyed an impromptu student-led jam session with the St. Michael-Albertville and Richfield marching bands.

“The camaraderie between schools made a lasting impression on the Cadets,” Martin said.

This season’s staff consists of Mike Reed and Joe Jaeger (head directors, music and percussion instructors, respectively), Keith Saxton (music instructor), Jonathan Su and Carrie Snyder (color guard instructors), Jake Esterberg, Roberto Munoz, Joey Wattenhofer, Mark Walentiny, Matt Brisbin, Nick Campbell and Hannah Maher (techs). The music arrangements as well as band drill were created by Reed and Jaeger.

The 728 Cadets performance schedule:

•July 18: Sherburne County Fair, Main Street in Elk River

•July 25: Wabasha Parade

•Aug. 1: Elk River Relay for Life, Elk River High School track

•Aug. 29: Minnesota State Fair