NEWBURGH, Ind. (WFIE) – After achieving success in the state finals last weekend, the Castle Marching Knights are preparing to head out to the Grand Nationals on Friday.

Marching Knights band director Ethan Wilkinson says they were happy to finish third in their class at the state finals, but they’re not done yet.

They are now preparing to head to the Grand Nationals for the first time since being one of the twelve finalists in 2022.

“Students feel locked in,” Wilkinson said. “They’re excited about what they did Saturday in the state finals and they’re ready to build on that.” They know it was good, but there’s another level.

This year’s show is called Néo-Noir.

The band’s director says that while they’ve had a lot of success recently, they’ve changed a few things this year in hopes of being even better, and perhaps a little more theatrical.

“Everyone is so excited,” junior alto saxophonist Matt Sandgren said. “We’re a little exhausted, I mean, we worked so much from May to November. It’s a crazy amount of time we’ve spent; but it’s really, really exciting.

The band director says the Marching Knights are now operating at their peak.

For students, they say the group’s reputation for excellence can be intimidating, but also motivating to give their best.

“I definitely feel pressure, but it’s good pressure, it’s not like nervousness,” junior drum major Sara Kroeger said. “It’s good to be under pressure because that’s what allows us to do better.”

Once the equipment truck is loaded and the final workout is complete, the group feels ready to take on another round of competition and morale is high.

“I think there’s a palpable feeling in the air that they can feel they’re pretty good, but there’s another level we can reach and we’re very close to it,” Wilkinson said.

If you want to support the Marching Knights, they say the best thing you can do is come to Indianapolis to cheer on their performance at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Other than that, if you want to stay up to date with the band’s latest news or find links to live stream their performance, visit the Facebook pages to Castle Bands And Château High School.

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