OBA 6A Preview
The state so great, there's a musical about it!
I’m often approached by band fans online and occasionally in person who will recognize me from social media, either from my own account or from one I’ve helped manage. I like to think I’m pretty outspoken about my alma mater’s band program (in a good way, of course). Nevertheless, more than any other question I’ve received, there’s one that stands out due to its frequency:
“Are you from Broken Arrow?”
I’m not from Broken Arrow, to clarify, though I have visited many times and I adore the area. It’s my own fault that I get this assumption made constantly - I’m wearing a Broken Arrow hoodie as I type this (over my Carolina Crown 2018 shirt that I don’t dare wear in public on its own). I probably own about as much BA merch as I do Camdenton merch, my real alma mater. I refer to myself as a Broken Arrow band parent online, despite being a few decades too young to have high schooler-aged offspring. Here’s why: as a member of my high school ensemble back in the day, we shared a lot of staff between the two, and the Pride would rehearse at our stadium on the way to BOA St. Louis, so we had a good relationship. I even dated a Pride member in high school. But I’m really just an overly excited fan! And I like the Pride enough that I’ve gone to watch them at several different competitions that aren’t exactly local for me - including the one I’m finally about to get to the point about. It’s that time of year again: the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association 6A-1 and 6A-2 Marching Contest!
Don’t worry, I’ll talk about bands that aren’t Broken Arrow. Over the years of following the Pride, I’ve gotten to encounter and become a fan of many different Oklahoma marching bands that we’ll be treated to this weekend. I’ve befriended many a student (and occasionally entire sections- shoutout to the Mustang HS mellophones). If you haven’t already seen the schedule on every participating band’s social media pages I’ve included it for you below (all times CT):
10:15 Yukon
10:30 Jenks
10:45 Union
11:00 Stillwater
11:15 PC North
11:30 Moore
11:45 Deer Creek
12:00 Edmond North
Lunch
1:00 Edmond Santa Fe
1:15 Westmoore
1:30 Mustang
1:45 Edmond Memorial
2:00 Tahlequah
2:15 Broken Arrow
Break
2:45 Southmoore
3:00 Owasso
3:15 Bixby
3:30 Bartlesville
3:45 Choctaw
4:00 Muskogee
7:00 Finals Begin
Luckily for me and for anyone else that happened to go to the Broken Arrow Invitational or BOA St. Louis, many of these bands have already competed against one another this year. So far, I’ve seen Yukon, Jenks, Union, Mustang, Tahlequah, Broken Arrow, Southmoore, and Muskogee live (pause to breathe). Hotly anticipated Owasso, Santa Fe, and Bixby have unfortunately eluded me so far, though with the scores that have come out of Oklahoma already this past month, I’m feeling pretty confident in them this year. Yukon opens up the field, coming off their first-ever BOA performance three weeks ago at St. Louis (and also their first-ever finals appearance there). The show is set against a starry night tinted a beautiful shade of red, titled “ConnexUS”. Jenks’ time-themed show, with the stylized title “...of time” netted them a first-place finish at BAI and a top-half finish in 7th place at Indianapolis this past weekend. I really, really like this show, and I normally hate time-themed shows. Union also landed solidly in finals at Indianapolis in 13th place with their show “A Common Thread”. These three should slide right into place in finals at state contest this weekend. Deer Creek, performing their show entitled “White Rabbit” may find themselves in their first-ever OBA finals this year, as they build momentum gearing up for a trip to Grand Nationals in November.
Edmond Santa Fe opens up the second block with their show “Outside The Box”, utilizing eleven box-shaped props that the band members march in and out of during the show. One of three Edmond schools competing this weekend, they’ve surged to life this season, beating out previous Grand National finalists Jenks and Union in the early season. Mustang performs later in the block, making a firm showing at St. Louis earlier this month with a 3rd place finish in prelims and a 6th place finish in finals. Their show “Prom!” fills the field with candy-colored uniforms and a repertoire of 80’s pop hits, aiming to capture the parents in the audience with a nostalgic performance. Tahlequah, hailing from the capital of the Cherokee Nation (technically making this an international competition), took 2nd in Class AA at BAI, and will be returning this weekend bringing another strong performance. (BAI uses BOA classification, while OBA utilizes OSSAA classification - more on that in just a minute). The Pride of Broken Arrow is the favorite to win this weekend for the 29th time, though with such a tight season, there are certainly captions that could end up being up for grabs. Their show “Over the Edge” is a sequel to their Grand National championship-winning production “The Edge of Eternity”.
Southmoore takes us into the final block of prelims with probably one of my favorite shows this season in terms of sheer elegance: “The Art of Light”, featuring musical selections like Kingfishers Catch Fire by Mackey and A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics by Horner. The band took second at BAI this year, ahead of 2021 Regional Champion Camdenton (MO), and took the Music Performance caption from Jenks, and landed in 10th place in St. Louis finals, medaling in class. They’re followed up by Owasso, whose consistency in 2nd place rivals Broken Arrow’s consistency placing 1st, and Bixby, whose show “Madness” has netted them many a local contest medal this season. They’ll be seeking to challenge Mustang and Jenks for a spot on the podium. Later on in the block will be Choctaw, last year’s Indianapolis Class AA champion, making the case for finals with their show “Bound”. We’ll wrap up with Muskogee’s production “Under the Red Hood” which presents a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale. It’s a must-see, if only for the phenomenal color guard (that may have moved me to tears at BAI).
Rather than using BOA classification, OBA classifies bands by their football classification (stay with me here, as it’s a bit confusing). Based on the ADM (average daily membership) of the school, the largest class, 6A Division I, contains the 16 largest football-playing schools, according to the OSSAA website. Division II contains the next 16 largest, and decreases to 5A, 4A, and down, with increasingly encompassing membership (5A-3A contains 32 schools each, 2A contains 64 schools, etc.) This means that while a band like Choctaw or Tahlequah may compete in AA at BOA and BOA-sheet events, they’re considered to be 6A Division II by the State of Oklahoma. It makes sense. Kind of. Does this mean band is a sport?
Unfortunately, this event won’t be streaming. If you’re within a few hours or ever so slightly crazy like I am and have a free Saturday, I will be the first person to tell you to show up (I mean, you read the article. Obviously I want you to go). Three of these bands will be attending Grand Nationals in two weeks, so if you absolutely can’t make it, we’ll see Deer Creek, Mustang, and Broken Arrow in Friday prelims (and potentially Saturday semifinals). If all else fails, you’ll be able to check scores Saturday night on practically every Oklahoma band Facebook page. From past experience, audience members in the stands will probably want to pack a jacket and a blanket (the farther south you go, the colder 50 degrees feels). While you’re preparing yourself for the weather, you may also want to emotionally prepare for the Pride tradition of alumni delivering occasionally-mutilated toy babies to the band members after finals. And, of course… be ready to experience one of the most competitive, entertaining, and magical state marching contests in the nation. In my opinion, at least. But what do I know? I’m not from Oklahoma. Or am I?
Hattie Bartlett is an experienced marching arts content creator making her writing debut with GEM. As a former member of the color guard, she has traveled across the country covering events with WGI and Box5, as well as informally commentating via HornRank. Hattie is currently on staff at the University of Missouri as a field photographer and communications intern. She can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok as @ilikeguard.