The Wayne Valley Marching Band just came out of a very successful 2025 season with their show “Journey Into the Unknown”, ending their season with a score of 91.6, six wins, and their 3rd State Championship win in a row. Now that their season is over, it’s time for three other groups to take the stage: indoor percussion ensemble, indoor color guard, and jazz band.
Indoor percussion and indoor colorguard are two groups that are very similar to marching band. The two groups consist of people either marching with an instrument, a brass, a woodwind, a drum, or spinning and dancing with a flag, rifle, saber, or playing in the front ensemble. The main difference between these groups and the marching band is how indoor percussion and indoor guard practice in several different locations around the school, such as the gyms, cafeterias, and the auditorium.
Many differences will occur compared to last year’s groups. Unlike last year’s standstill group, this year’s indoor percussion group may be marching in their show. Additionally, the indoor color guard will be competing this year as their numbers have grown significantly.
Something important to know for both of these groups is that no experience is needed to participate, meaning you are welcome if you’ve been reading and playing music and/or spinning flags/rifles/sabers and dancing for many years, or if you have never looked at a single note of music or touched a piece of guard equipment.
These two groups take place from the beginning of December to early April. The weekdays that this group has practice are currently being planned, but practices start at 5:30 pm and end at 9:00 pm. If interested, please email the director, Mr. Rusca ([email protected]), for more information or see him at Wayne Valley HS in the Band Room, or Room 106.
In addition, the name ‘jazz band’ basically describes what this group is about. The Wayne Valley jazz band is a group of musicians who get together to play jazz music. The main instruments included in this group are alto/tenor/baritone saxophones, trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass, and drumset. Sometimes, vibraphone, auxiliary percussion, jazz flute and clarinet, and a vocalist can also be included in this group.
To join the jazz band, you only need some experience, that experience mainly being knowing how to read music. If you don’t know how to play one of the jazz band instruments, you are welcome to learn one. Last year, two people who played different instruments in the symphonic band learned new instruments to join the jazz band.
The jazz band schedule takes place between December and early May. For this group, practices will be on Wednesdays from 6 pm to 9 pm.
