It is clear to anyone who has seen any of CHS’ Pride of the Lions show that the marching band works like a well-oiled machine. The steps of every band member are taken with purpose, the hype-inducing music of each instrument fit crisply together, and audience members watch with rapt attention, eager to hear the following note. This would not be possible without the help of CHS Band’s Drum Majors, Seniors Elizabeth Bush and Abby Null.

According to Elizabeth, the main job of the drum majors is to, “conduct the band and…make sure that they aren’t goofing off, most of the time.” During marching band season from September to October, the band plays during football games and goes to competitions on Saturdays. The other part of the year, Abby and Elizabeth play classical music with the concert band, playing the baritone saxophone and tenor saxophone respectively.

“This year, we are doing a spy show, it’s called Espionage,” Elizabeth said regarding the 2018 show theme. “It’s got the Jason Bourne music, the Bond music, and the Mission Impossible music.” Without a doubt, the “spy show” theme comes through loud and clear, and everything from the band’s marching style to the Drum Major’s Black Widow-esque costumes adds to that. “It’s gonna be a crowd-pleaser,” Abby said. “The show is…recognizable. People are going to know ‘Skyfall.’ They are going to know the James Bond theme.”

As it is their second year as drum majors, Abby and Elizabeth find their job a little bit easier than they did last year. “It was pretty rough. We didn’t know what we were doing at all,” Elizabeth said regarding their first year as drum majors. “And since we have a better idea of what’s going on, we get a little bit more creative with it,” added Abby. “In our conducting patterns we can start adding cues, decrescendos, and crescendos. [We can] make it look pretty.”

But how do they do it? Lots and lots of practice. “We have like no weekends,” Abby said. “And then there’s practice every Tuesday, every Thursday. It’s a big time commitment.” The marching band has competitions every weekend from September to October-with the exception of Homecoming weekend-and that requires a lot of practice. In addition, there is one other major component to their success. “We give each other a lot of space to be our own drum major,” Elizabeth said. Their shows are divided in half. Elizabeth conducts the first and Abby conducts the second. “We respect each other’s space and independent authority.” Abby noted.

Make sure to go and see “Espionage,” this year’s Pride of the Lions show!