While on most fall weekends the stands at Ed Hollier Field are filled with fans cheering on Kenai Central High School’s football team, on Saturday attendees were there to see the latest from the school’s marching band.
The Kenai Marching Showcase gathered Kenai Central High School Marching Band, Colony High School’s marching band, Thee Northern Sound, and Soldotna High School’s Drumline for a celebration of the growth of marching band in Alaska. The Kenai and Colony bands both performed their halftime shows before all three groups gathered to close out the evening with a combined performance of Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!”
Kenai seniors Dakota Wisnewski and Nikki Somers after the showcase on Saturday said that while it was exciting to have the stands packed for a marching band-specific event, they both felt increased pressure as a result.
Kenai’s marching band this season is performing “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games,” a medley of familiar tracks from “The Hunger Games” inspired by the 2023 film. The band performs “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “Nothing You Can Take From Me,” and “The Hanging Tree,” with audio clips from the films woven into the performance, before concluding with Katniss Everdeen’s familiar three-finger salute.
“You’re standing up there and your heart’s pumping — it gets hard to play — but you just got to push through it and have a good time,” Wisnewski said. “It gives us motivation to get better and play better.”
Somers said that all the bands did well and had fun together.
A marching band showcase has been held annually at Colony High School for many years. Colony marching band director Jamin Burton said he’s been directing marching band at the school for 20 years — but “this is the first time my students have had somewhere to go.”
Other teams at his school, like football and swimming, regularly get to depart for exciting trips where they compete and meet their peers from around the state — “it’s good to be here.”
This is the first year of the Kenai Marching Showcase, though Kenai band director Christian Stephanos said the Kenai band has attended Colony’s showcase now twice. Stephanos said the gatherings are his performers’ favorite events of the season, because they get to spend time with others who share passions and challenges.
It’s also special, Stephanos said, to see the stands filled with parents, peers and fans supporting the bands specifically.
Stephanos has said repeatedly that the growth of marching band on the Kenai Peninsula was a key goal from the time he became band director at Kenai Middle School and Kenai Central High School in 2020.
He told the Clarion earlier this month that he’s seen his band growing, more importantly that students and the community are creatively and passionately buying into the program — that improves the high school football experience.
Burton said on Saturday that marching band is a key element of musical education. If any students want to continue in music after graduating high school, outside of Alaska, “this is part of what they’re expected to know how to do.”
“When the band and the cheerleaders and the football team are all working together for the same Friday night lights — it’s a different experience.”
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs at each of the KCHS football team’s home games, including this Saturday when the Kardinals take on Kodiak High School at 5 p.m.
For more information, find “Kenai Bands” on Facebook. The Kenai Central High School Marching Band is actively fundraising to travel to Indianapolis in November 2025 and compete in the Bands of America Grand National Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Colony High School marching band director Jamin Burton; Kenai Central High School band director Christian Stephanos; and Soldotna High School band director Mark Jurek watch their bands together play Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Central High School Marching Band performs “Snakes and Songbirds: The Music of the Hunger Games” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Colony High School marching band, Thee Northern Sound, Kenai Central High School Marching Band, and Soldotna High School Drumline together play Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Colony High School Marching Band, “Thee Northern Sound,” performs during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Colony High School marching band, Thee Northern Sound, performs during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Colony High School marching band, Thee Northern Sound, performs during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Colony High School marching band, Thee Northern Sound, performs during the Kenai Marching Showcase at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
