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Kingsley Band News & Updates
- Kingsley Area Schools
- Sep 3
- 3 min read
By Lance Dubay
Band Director
Students Learn about Civil War Era Drumming
In May, the band invited Dr. James Strain, professor of percussion at Northern Michigan University to come talk to fifth and sixth graders about drumming during the Civil War.
Dr. Strain is a world percussionist and expert on drum history in America. His presentation tied into the 5th grade social studies curriculum, as the students read about Civil War Drummer Boy John Clem.
The presentation included a collection of artifacts from the American Civil War including uniforms, flags, drums, photographs, and supplies soldiers would have interacted with.
Strain focused on demonstrating to students how drums and flags were the method of communication for soldiers at this time. Highlighting that without a phone, or radio, that soldiers relied on drums for auditory cues.
Alex Fasel performed piccolo (fife) to help bring camp life alive.
Band Travels to Illinois
In June, members of the band program travelled to Chicago. 35 students boarded a bus at 5:00AM on June 13 for a tour of the city. The group visited "The bean” and spent several hours at the Field Museum, where we watched a city-wide middle school band perform.
Next, the group walked to the Shedd Aquarium where students learned about diverse marine populations. They were able to touch starfish and stingrays, and also walked through the tunnel of sharks.
Of course, no trip to Chicago would be complete without a trip to Giordano’s for Chicago-style pizza.
Day one of the trip concluded with a trip to the theater to watch “Kimberly Akimbo”, an award-winning Broadway musical.
Day two of the trip, the group woke up early and took a short ride up to Six Flags where we spent the better part of the day. For many students, this was their first time at a major amusement park.
For dinner that evening, the group travelled back in time at Medieval Times Dinner Theater. Even though our knight did not win, the kids still had a great time.
The final day of our trip was spent at the top of the Willis Tower and doing the 360-tilt -- quite the view of the city when you feel like you are laying flat on a piece of glass 90 stories up!
In the morning, we explored the Science and Industry Museum for much of the day. Many of the students could probably have spent a full day or more in there.
Summer Happenings
The bands have been active this summer. Jazz Prism performed at both the Fife Lake Fourth of July parade and the National Cherry Festival Grand Royale parade in Traverse City.
These parades were the premiere of our new jazz float - there will be more to come on this during this upcoming school year! It is the brain child of Jim Ulrich, who has created this incredible parade float that is significantly larger than the one we have used in previous years.
Over the winter, the plan is to add the upper level to our new float. Kingsley Lumber was kind enough to provide a truck that could pull the 30’ long float, which is 8’ wide for road travel and just over 12’ wide in parade-mode.
2025 Half-Time Program
The marching band had its camp in late July to learn the 2025 halftime show “West Side Story” which ties into the the English curriculum where they read Romeo and Juliet.
This show features the tunes, “Maria”, “One Hand, One Heart” with trumpet soloist Carolyn Wolf, “Mambo”, “Somewhere”, and concludes with “Tonight.” Drum Majors for the 2025 Season are Mary Bauer, Nat Crawford, and Levi Sterk.
The marching band will perform at the Thirby Marching Band Exhibition on Monday October 6 time TBD.
In addition, the Marching Stags have been invited by Northern Michigan University to perform at the 2025 Marching Band Day on Saturday, October 25 in the Superior Dome.
Kingsley will join nearly 500 other musicians on the field at halftime of the NMU vs Michigan Tech Football game, and also participate in a “5th quarter” marching band exhibition with schools from across Northern Michigan and Wisconsin.
Also over the summer, the Kingsley High School Symphony Band was formally invited by Michigan State Senator Ed McBroom to perform in Lansing at the State Capitol. The band will travel to Lansing on May 6. Senator McBroom will guest conduct the band.