The San Dimas Royal Corps has high hopes to make it to the State Championships again. The Royal Corps returned to the field to dominate the competition. The Royal Corps once again won overall music and received an 80.8 which is the fastest they have ever broken 80 in their season, just four points under their highest score by their second competition.
The Royal Corps, after making finals for the first time in their history last year, are on track to achieving even more this season with many of the adjudicators stating that the SDHS Royal Corps is a “completely new band”. The Royal Corps is step by step becoming a band people with big names are taking an interest in.
At the band’s latest competition at Gahr High School, they broke their previous record and received second place with a score of 85.3. The band has grown exponentially since their first competition and they are continuing to put out an effort that might get them to the State Championships once again.
Junior, Jacob Ramirez shares the secret to success, “Being in a band as big as ours is very empowering to me because when we step on the field I just know we are going to blow the crowd away but not everyone can do that. It takes countless hours at and away from rehearsal and countless hours at home just working on yourself so you can be the best you can be. Practice in private, perform in public”.
Performing at such a high level or doing anything at a high level takes hours of dedication to your craft, repeating one thing until it’s perfect time and time again. Nobody gets far if they quit when it gets hard and the Royal Corps is a great representation of that quality. They may face bigger and better bands, and they may think to themselves at a rehearsal that it’s hard but they don’t quit instead they show up and give it their best and they show out to competitions so they can be able to say they didn’t quit and that they pushed through the hard times to put out a result they are proud of.
SDHS Royal Corps Drum Major John Kulow-Chacon shares his feelings, “Even though there is drama, I absolutely love it. I actually feel so blessed to be able to be a part of this band when we are the best we have ever been. Of course, there are flaws, but I’m always able to shrug them off because they were so good in the grand scheme of things. It really feels like living in a massive family of cool people. As a drum major too, I appreciate it so much that I get to be up in the front to experience this show. It’s honestly amazing and I can’t wait for the other half of this year to be even better. I wouldn’t trade our band and my role in it for anything.”
The band is a phenomenal group of talented individuals who put aside everything in their lives to come and work with other talented people and put out this amazing show that we all find ourselves returning to watch. As Kulow put it, you don’t have to be the best to have the best experience and have the most fun, you have the most fun when you feel proud of what you are doing and when you are doing it with people you care about.
