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Pushing the hourglass prop, Hannelore Sederholm ’27 and Christian Whitford ’27 lead Michael Perez ’26 across the field. Throughout the show, the hourglasses move, with band members posing on their platforms.
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
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Playing the synth, William Zhang ’26 performs his solo from Clair de lune at the start of the show’s ballad. The ballad continues using music from older eras, before the band transitions to more contemporary pieces.
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
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Skirt flowing behind her, Abi Caudle ’26 spins her flag. The guard uniforms were designed by Jim Moore to look elegant and grand.
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
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Checking their watches, Liam Bond ’27, Remy Phillips ’26, Adaline Boyd ’26, and Aditi Kodali ’27 pose in a line. Jim Moore, the band’s program coordinator, choreographed many moments incorporating imaginary watches into the show.
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
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Circling up, the band participates in an old dismissal tradition. The tradition involves lifting instruments in the air and shouting the band’s phrase “Pride, Passion, Family.”
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
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Acting like a clock’s hands, Radwan Merhebi ‘25 performs his show themed choreo. Clocks are one of the time themed elements seen throughout the show Timeless.
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
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Attending to his prop, Jonas Lesher ‘26 spins an hourglass during the ending of the band’s show Timeless. The hourglasses have no sand, so they have no “time,” which contributes to the shows theme.
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
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Donning his band uniform, Emilio Vidrio ‘27 prepares for his half time performance. The band’s uniform consists of time related elements such as the melting clock to contribute to the show theme this year- Timeless.
Courtesy of WABB volunteer'
The cafeteria went silent and the only sound to be heard was the whirring projector. Suddenly, images of melting clocks and golden hourglasses flashed across the screen, accompanied by classic tunes of Beethoven and Bach. The crowd watched on the edge of their seats as one final word displayed on the screen before slowly fading to black: Timeless.
“Every year in the spring, the whole band comes together for the show reveal where we find out what our marching show will be for the next season,” Owen Greenberg ‘27 said. “At first, I was kind of disappointed because I was expecting something a little less serious, but over time, Timeless has grown on me.”
The band works tirelessly to produce a show that can be enjoyed and admired by all. But before it could ever be performed by the band, Timeless had to be conceptualized and created.
The marching band has a team of professionals who all work closely with the band’s head director, Ms. Brittany Dacy, to carefully create a show that the students can succeed with. The team consists of a program coordinator, music arrangers, an electronics designer, and a drill writer who are all high-achieving experts in the marching band world. One of these professionals, Jim Moore, is the program coordinator for the Warrior Band and is known for his success working with world class drum corps- the Bluecoats.
“[Mr. Moore] definitely knows what he’s doing. He’s also really smart with everything and it’s always really fun when he comes,” Nico Ham ‘27 said. “His choreography is difficult, but it always ends up being great because he knows what he’s doing.”
Every show is original and different from the past, so each year, show designers start from scratch with new ideas and concepts that could be anything ranging from The Wizard of Oz to birds. This year, as the team discussed their opinions, the idea for Timeless was born.
“[Our music arranger,] Mr. Oliver was excited about doing all of the classics, and so he wanted to do that musically. Then, Mr. Moore [suggested], ‘well, let’s call it Timeless, because it’s timeless classics,’” Ms. Dacy said.
Once a concept is chosen, the process of creating the show begins. It takes communication and collaboration for the designers to blend music and visual aspects so the show can flow cohesively. Choosing and arranging music is a key part of this process to convey the theme of Timeless. To do so, Mr. Oliver picked a collection of iconic pieces to create a fast-forward through music history, including traditional pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky, Debussy, and more contemporary pieces by Reich and Adams.
“[We were] trying to make sure we found the most clear and most recognizable music… [and] it was really about the flow and how he could weave it together,” Ms. Dacy said.
On the visual side, Mr. Moore had the responsibility of planning and designing other aspects of the show like props and costumes. He came up with the idea for the hourglass props, which were then custom-made by parent volunteers. Other props, along with the band and guard uniforms, were made by an outside company with direction from Mr. Moore.
“Mr. Moore [talked] to [the] designer, kind of going back and forth with sketches, and made sure that the [guard] costumes were complementary of the band costumes so that it all worked together,” Ms. Dacy said. “Everything is custom to what [our] idea is.”
The show is designed to excite and interest everyone, from the youngest audience member to the strict competition judges. The team added many small, time-themed details and nuances to ensure the show and its theme translate well to audiences. The show works with tempos, time periods, choreography, and other effects to illustrate the idea of time throughout the performance.
“We play with time, we take [music], and then we stretch it, [to] make it seem like it’s out of time. The tempo changes all the time, and it’s supposed to feel timeless, so that there’s not a steady pulse with it,” Ms. Dacy said. “We talked about putting sand in the hourglasses, but we decided not to, because they’re timeless. Because they have no time, they have no sand. We thought that was kind of another funny little timeless moment.”
Once the idea was set in stone, the band came together for their annual spring camp to start bringing Timeless to life. The spring camp is a week where the staff reteaches current band students and incoming freshmen the fundamentals of marching band, and puts together the opener of the show for the first time.
“[Spring camp] is super fun. It’s definitely a good introduction to get back into marching band after concert season,” Ham said. “It’s always fun to start relearning everything…[and] an even better part is getting the music finally for the show that you’re gonna be playing for next year.”
When spring camp ends, the band students eagerly wait for summer band camp to begin, where they’ll work on the show again while the designers finish up the rest of the music and drill, which consists of the steps and positions of the show. Later parts of the show like the ballad and closer are continuously worked on during the summer for it to be ready to be rehearsed.
“Summer [band camp] was a bit intimidating [at first],” Nahom Benyam ‘28 said. “It’s the first time I learned how to march and put a show together, but it was really fun.”
After summer band camp ends, the school year goes into full swing. Band students will have rehearsals almost everyday after school until the end of the season, perfecting this singular show. During the season, the show designers will constantly reevaluate parts of the show and its difficulty, even sometimes making changes days before a performance.
“The changes can be really sudden and take a little while for the band to catch on to,” Adaline Boyd ‘26 said. “[It] takes a lot of work, but it’s to make us better in the end.”
After months of work and dedication, the season rapidly comes to a close with the band’s final competition in San Antonio. The show designers will meet one more time, celebrating their victories with the show. Then, it’s back to the drawing board to come up with a new show for the next season.
“I’m very proud of how we do and [how we] keep getting better. I’m happy that I have continued improving as well, and I can’t wait to see what next year has to offer,” Zach Suter ‘26 said. “The end of the season is always the most eventful but it goes by quick and all I can think about is how we can get better [in the future]”
The band will perform Timeless again on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio for the UIL Area D marching competition.
