The 23-24 Marching Band Family
When people think of a family, they think of people they are related to by blood or possibly their friends; Sadelle Verduzco thinks of her marching band family. Senior Head drum major Verduzco is the glue that holds together our whole operation. “I would take all the stress in the world for this program if it means we are gonna grow.” Verduzco's love for this program is shown in her amazing work, which took us to 8th place last year and 3rd in our own division. These students are connecting with one another on a new level this year. According to Ms. Pierce, “The connections being made student to student are visible on the field…they are motivated, and they are motivating each other.” Chemistry isn’t something that you can teach, and the Marching band already has the chemistry they need to become great.
All our time and effort is put into the show called All The Lonely People. Music selections include Eleanor Rigby, arranged by Cody Fry, Come Together by The Beatles/Gary Clark Jr., I Hear a Symphony by Cody Fry, and To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra. All music is arranged by Jeff Chambers Music Sound Design by Tim Mitchel. All the Lonely People is about Eleanor Rigby, portrayed by Lenora Leder. Ms. Rigby is a woman who is lonely at the end of her life. This show gives us an insight into Eleanor's life. When discussing this show, Band Director Jeremy Freisz said, “I think this show is magical.”
The IKE marching band is being taught this Magical show by our groundbreaking techs. Our visual assistant, Kolby Arnold, helps with the marching basics. He also has taken our trumpet section to the next level. Next, Miranda Wojciechowicz is our percussion supervisor; she helps with our drumline, comes in during the school day to help, and works with the drum majors and front ensemble. We have a fantastic musician specializing in the trombone who has helped our low brass a lot. You can find his videos on YouTube as Burger Brad, but we simply call him Brad Dowson. Our flute tech is Andrea Audelo. Our unbelievably funny Clarient tech is Francisco Gonzalez, Katelin Crowner is the Wilson band director, and our sax tech. Next is Andrew Button, the front ensemble tech. We are very fortunate that Hailey Adkison, our dance team coach, is also our color guard instructor. She is assisted by one of Mr. Freisz’s former students, Chris Frausto. Finally, Jaxon Vocana is our visual staff member. These amazing people created our whole show with their time and effort. Head Drum major Verduzco said, “Each of these people has changed my life,” which truly shows you who these people are.
There are 3 Adults who make this band what it is. Our two directors and our visual director, starting with Mr.Jeremy Freisz. Freisz went to school and started band in 6th grade and continued throughout middle school. A career-ending sports injury got him onto a path of music at Eisenhower High School. He graduated college from Central Washington University and taught marching band for 17 years, giving him extensive knowledge of what it takes for a band to be successful. Freisz prides himself on being well-rounded in all the arts. Next is Chloe Pierce, our new director, who has come into our program completely new to all marching, although her intensive education in music will take our band to new heights. Ms. Pierce has been playing the saxophone for 14 years, has a passion for jazz band, and earned two degrees at Central Washington University in 2022—one for saxophone performance and one for music education.
The two of them working together creates a dynamic duo our band program needed. Freisz said, “I haven't loved teaching band this much in a long time, and I’m starting to love teaching band again, and a lot of that is because Ms. Pierce is here.” While Pierce said, “It’s nice having a teacher who has been living this for the past how many years and I get to watch him teach as well and I get to pick up gems…we can collaborate and ask what's our goals?” Both are helping each other in different ways, creating a better band by the minute. The last adult who makes us a better band is Mr. Tyler Jones. Jones is the brains of our operation. In other words, he’s the technical director. According to head drum major Verduzco, “He is our visual director, and he makes all of our drill and all the choreo. He basically makes our show look super cool,” Which is what we can all see on the field after just one rehearsal with him.
The glue that holds together our band is our drum majors: Head drum major Verduzco and Drum major Audrey Livingston. Verduzco has been in the marching band for three years, two of which she was a drum major. Verduzco is described as a hard-working, mature, and passionate drum major. While talking about the growth of the band, Verduzco said, “For a really long time, our band was put down, and now it’s time for us to stand up for ourselves. I want us to grow to the best of our ability.” Livingston is just as passionate when it comes to music, with her five years of band and her first year working under Sadelle as a drum major. Livingston says, “Being a drum major is a dream come true. I mean, sure, it's difficult and extremely stressful, but it's all I've wanted in my high school career.” With Audrey marching for Colombians, a drum corp, she has a new view to bring to Ike marching. According to Ms. Pierce, “Both Sadelle and Audrey demonstrate two young leaders.” This partnership has the potential to take us far.
Someone who deserves another spotlight is Jeremy Freisz, who is truly the heart and soul of our band. Freisz's philosophy as a teacher is “teaching the music is one half of my job. The other is to make you a better person.” Freisz helped build this band from COVID upto now. He has become a father figure to everyone in the band. Verduzco says, “I think Freisz is a great person. When he first came to our school, I was like this dude is a little wack, but then I started to get to know him, and his passion for what we're doing is incredible. I have never seen anyone want it more than him. Freisz has put so much time and effort into this band. If anyone wants it the most, it’s him.” You can see Freisz cheering us on from the sidelines during a halftime show, playing with us at assemblies, and teaching his classes with all the knowledge he has come across in his years in band. Freisz is our greatest supporter and someone who all of us will remember as we grow.