by: Annabelle Pan

Graphics Editor

Setting off on their task of learning and memorizing the 2025 show music, the Los Gatos High School Marching Band and Color Guard began their season in August, one week before school officially started. New members familiarized themselves with the rest of their section, and everyone received the first movement of the show Compos Mentis.

Compos mentis is a Latin phrase that means “of sound mind.” The show this year focuses on the journey between sanity and insanity. Mario Barron, the color guard caption head, likened the first movement of the show to the feeling a teenager gets when “you’re going through hard times, and you notice that something about it is so different that it doesn’t work anymore. In situations where you always felt confident, you suddenly begin to question yourself. This causes a crack in your foundation.” The next part of the show, movement two, delves into the feeling of helplessness as everything falls apart, and you feel like you have no direction. The music includes portions of the melodic lines in Wait for Me from Hadestown and solos performed by flutist Haley Wong and mellophone player Jacob Shkolnik. The plot continues into the third movement, which features a percussion solo from the drumline and front ensemble and, as Barron clarified, asks the question, “Do you have the courage to go on?” In the last movement, “your sanity starts to draw you out of this distress and pushes everything back into clarity,” marking the moment when you achieve compos mentis. Many marching band and color guard members commented that they appreciate the story of the 2025 show because it features themes that many high schoolers experience. Ellenore Hammer, the front ensemble’s xylophone player, explained that she likes this year’s show music because “the percussion parts are more prominent sound-wise,” especially in movement three.

The marching band and color guard attended their first competition on Oct. 18 at the Western Band Association (WBA) Independence Band Tournament. The ensemble played run-throughs of each movement for three hours that morning before storing all of the instruments and props into trailers. After they finished loading, the group boarded the buses to Independence High School and continued practicing until 6:45 PM at the competition site. By then, it was show time. The LGHS Marching Band and Color Guard took their place on the field and performed all four movements of Compos Mentis, placing third in their division. One week later, on Oct. 25, the group once again prepared to perform at the Cupertino Tournament of Bands competition. This time, they received the second place trophy in their division with a score of 71.925. 

With two competitions done, the ensemble has one last hurdle to overcome: the WBA California Regional Championship at James Logan. As the show Compos Mentis asks, “Do you have the courage to go on?” the 2025 LGHS Marching Band and Color Guard respond by flawlessly executing every beat, step, and note.