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728 Cadets 2017 Season – Invincible

By Wyatt Martin, 728 Cadets Alumni, 07/28/17, 3:45PM CDT

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728 Cadets Show Theme “Invincible” Becomes Motivator for Hard Work and Success for Students 

 

See the 2017 production Invincible

The 728 Cadets Marching Band made up of students from Rogers, Elk River, and Zimmerman middle and high schools has thrived this season with head director Joe Jaeger’s creation of “Invincible.” The concept centered around superheroes, has been a winning concept with the students and in competition. Joe Jaeger commented “our program this summer is entitled ‘Invincible.’ Since it is superhero themed, the kids can easily grasp the concept of working hard to become invincible. That has been a huge motivator for us.”

The show opens to the heroic sounds of Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland, a well-known piece in the band community that has been heard frequently in popular culture. The music and drill introduce the idea of a superhero and the chaos that a superhero might encounter. The remainder of the show features excerpts from Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. On the music choices, Keith Saxton, music director commented “the music has a lot of energy, and it sets the right mood to fit the visuals of the show. We take classical music and make it cool for the kids.”

The Cadets have had a successful competitive season. They began their season with a non-competitive parade at Zimmerman’s Wild West Days Parade, a long-time Cadets tradition. Their first competitive parade took place at Milaca on June 15th, where they won Grand Champion, and also received caption awards for Best Color Guard and Best Percussion. On June 17th the Cadets attended the Harry Wenger (Owatonna) and Lake Waconia Marching Band Festivals, two of the largest competitive marching band festivals in the state. Throughout the day, the Cadets took top honors in Class AAA and overall Grand Champion at both the Harry Wenger (Owatonna) and Lake Waconia Marching Band Festivals, as well as two caption awards for Best Color Guard, two for Best Percussion, one for Best Winds, one for Best Drum Majors, and a People’s Choice award from the Harry Wenger Festival. Additionally, for the fifth consecutive year, the Cadets took home the Owat-onia Award for achieving the top combined score from the two festivals that day.

“This season has been extremely positive,” said Jaeger, “and the kids have had great attitudes the whole time. We have been pushing them hard to become stronger each year, and they are really latching on to that this season! Instructors and students are raising the bar every single year, even with the compressed summer rehearsal schedule.” Saxton says “Our music has definitely intensified over the last four years. The kids are able to play faster and more complex pieces.”

On June 22nd, the Cadets performed for the Riverfront Concert Series in Elk River, then the Rockin’ Rogers parade on June 24th. Following the parade, they traveled to Alexandria to perform in the Minnesota Drum Corps Premiere along with the 777 Lancers from Mankato and Alexandria Marching Bands plus four of Minnesota’s drum and bugle corps who debuted their 2017 shows.

The next day, the Cadets marched in the Vikingland Band Festival, a parade regarded as one of the biggest marching band competitions in the Midwest, and as the unofficial state championship for Minnesota parade marching. At Alexandria, the Cadets were incredibly successful. They received 1st place in their class for the fifth year running, caption awards for Best Winds, Best Color Guard, and Best Percussion, the coveted People’s Choice Award, and overall Grand Champion of the festival. A video excerpt of their performance from the judges stand can be found on Vikingland Band Festival’s Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/VikinglandBandFestival/videos/1571997062851077/

For years the 728 Cadets have followed the Alexandria weekend with another favorite event, the Roseville Rose Parade, which took place June 26th. This is another highly competitive parade and the Cadets took first place honors in their class plus Best Percussion and Best Color Guard caption awards. Other late-season parades for the Cadets include the Pierre Bottineau Parade in Maple Grove on July 13th, the Monticello Riverfest Parade on July 16th, and a final home show in Elk River for the Sherburne County Fair parade on July 22nd.

In addition to their Minnesota performances, this year the Cadets will be travelling to Traverse City, Michigan July 5 – 9 to perform in the National Cherry Festival, an annual event dating back to 1926 that sees an average of 500,000 attendees over the course of 8 days. The National Cherry Festival is hosting three parades this year, and the Cadets will be marching in two of them: the Junior Royale Parade on July 6th, and the Cherry Royale Parade on July 8th. While traveling the Cadets will also visit Mackinac Island and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.

This season will see the graduation of 17 seniors. Many of the students have been marching with the organization over four years. One such student who has been with the organization for eight years is Kory Esterberg of Elk River High School, a current season drum major. Kory has participated in 14 seasons between summer marching band and indoor percussion in a variety of roles, such as honor guard, bass drum, tenors, marimba, and drum major. “Being a Cadet is much more than just being in a band,” says Kory. “It’s more of a family. My best memories are with this group and I will always remember them. Being a Cadet has taught me so much about respect, responsibility and musicianship. The Minnesota street marching community is a special group of amazing people who provide support and encouragement to all competitors. The 728 Cadets and the Minnesota marching community have taught and continue to teach life lessons about how to respect others.”

The 728 Cadets Marching Band is directed by Joe Jaeger. The color guard is directed by Evan Pufpaff with the help of Carrie Snyder and Lauren Hipsag. Percussion is directed by Joe Jaeger along with Jake Esterberg, Joey Wattenhofer and Dani Augustine. Winds are directed by Keith Saxton with the help of Ethan Wightkin and Shannon Curtis.  Visual Design is provided by Jacob Daniel, Joe Jaeger, and Alexis MacArthur.

See 2017 Video Highlights

728 Cadets Marching Arts is a non-profit music organization within school district (ISD 728) serving students grades 7 – 12 in the Elk River, Rogers, and Zimmerman schools.  Programming includes summer parade marching, plus indoor ensembles for specific disciplines in percussion, color guard, and winds. In addition to performance education, there are many benefits that come from participating in marching arts programs:

  • Students, grades 7 – 12, work as a team and learn what it takes to pull off a large-scale production that’s fun, competitive, and entertaining.

  • Students use the competitive shows to better their performance, and set goals to improve scores each event.

  • Upper classmen are given opportunities to develop their leadership skills.

  • Camaraderie is built between District 728 students and other school ensembles.

  • Students improve physical endurance, as the performance roles are physically demanding.

Related resources:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/728-Cadets-Marching-Arts-272556424894/

Videos https://vimeo.com/album/4112922

MN Parade Bands:  http://www.minnesotaparadebands.com/

Harry Wenger Band Festival:  http://www.owatonnabandfestival.com/

Vikingland Band Festival:  http://www.marching.com/events/vbf/

Vikingland Band Festival Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikingland_Band_Festival