Despite the Normal Marching Band falling short of their start-of-season goal to make a finals run at the Bands of America Super Regional, the group garnered numerous accolades throughout the 2023 season.

Among them was a first-place finish at the 6A Illinois State Marching Band Championships at Illinois State University on Oct. 21.

The NMB’s second straight 6A title qualified the performers to compete among the State’s top 15 bands in the competition’s finals.

A first-place trophy wasn’t the only hardware the NMB brought home, as the band was recognized for outstanding visual and general effects for this season’s show “The Game.”

Learning of those achievements at the preliminary award show, NMB co-director Mr. Paul Carter said, was exciting.

There was, Carter said, “lots of yelling and screaming and jumping up and down and all those things.”

The emotion only increased when the band secured their spot in the finals.

“I think the students were almost more excited about the opportunity to get to [perform the show] again and do it better,” Carter said, “rather than necessarily some title.”

In their second straight final appearance, the band’s performance of the “modern, colorful take on chess” earned 5th place, .125 points behind 4th place Plainfield North.

Sophomore Mohnish Janagan, the NMB’s youngest drum major this year, was a little disappointed in the finals finish.

While, the co-op between Community and West could not repeat last year’s second-place finish. Morton High School’s Marching Band, however, was able to repeat their achievement from last season– placing first overall in the State for a second straight year.

Morton and Normal clashed again on Oct. 28 for the year’s final competition, the 66-team Bands of America St. Louis Super Regional, where the NMB finished 29th.

“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to get into [the] BOA Finals,” Janagan said.

Ultimately, the NMB fell short of that goal, failing to place among the top 14 teams and advance to finals for back-to-back years after last season’s 16th-place finish.

“Next year,” the sophomore drum major said, “we are trying to just encourage that goal because, every year, we’ve been really close to getting there.”

Competition is stiff at the BOA Super Regional, as the event draws competitors from several states, including performers from Texas and Mississippi.

Just how competitive is the event? Morton, a premiere Marching Band in Illinois, finished 10th in the Finals.

Among the teams competing for the top 14 this season, Carter said, were a couple of groups that “were really, really good” this year.

While the NMB failed to achieve Janagan’s personal goal for the year: “to make a difference and make a mark” at the BOA competition, the drum major has reason to celebrate.

The band’s “mark” struck a chord across the Atlantic, as the group earned international recognition when they were selected to perform in London’s 2025 New Year’s Day Parade.

The announcement was made public on Nov. 3 when parade representatives, including Winston Churchill’s great-grandson, formally invited the band to the exhibition.

Janagan was chosen to keep the parade’s official umbrella safe for the 424 days until the Jan. 1, 2025 showcase.

The honor is significant, as the umbrella, superstition holds, prevents any rain from touching London’s streets on parade day.

This event ends a dry spell for the Unit 5 marching band, as it marks the first international trip for the program in “almost 10 years,” Carter said.

Combining Normal West and Normal Community’s marching bands in 2018 was not without its difficulties.

The merger, Carter said, “was like trying to merge together two completely different cultures.”

Despite the initial turmoil, the band has seen measurable and steady success in recent years, allowing them to compete against larger schools in the state and country.

The tandem of the two schools serves as the NMB’s biggest strength.

Marching Band, the director said, “is one of the few activities in our district where there’s such collaboration between the two high schools.”

That collaboration, Carter said, has led to “tremendous growth in the students [and the program].”

That growth is something he hopes to see in coming years.

Next season, Carter hopes the band puts on a “great show” as they “showcase what [they] do on a larger scale.”