Pablo Picasso worked magic with a paintbrush, but imagine if he had a trombone, too.
This month, the Flower Mound High School’s marching band tried to answer that question. They wanted to bring Picasso’s art movement known as cubism to life in a technicolor musical number, inspired by the legendary painter.
The school was among the many North Texas schools that traveled to San Antonio for the University Interscholastic League state marching band contest. Their performance, called “MultiFACEted,” earned first place in their conference.
Student musicians, donning colorful, reversible jackets, banged drums and blasted trumpets, as they criss-crossed through the football field. Prop pieces of giant eyes, mouths and lashes — sketched in Picasso’s signature line art-style — hovered in the backdrop.
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“The kids work really hard, and there’s a lot that goes into it,” said Brent Biskup, director of the Flower Mound band. “When they’re rewarded for what they’re doing, it’s rare, and so it’s amazing.”
The Flower Mound Band’s performance, titled “MultiFACEted,” took inspiration from Pablo Picasso.
Courtesy of Flower Mound Band
The UIL separates the competition into six conferences, based on the size of the school. The 6A conference is for schools with an enrollment of 2,275 students and above, while the 1A conference is reserved for schools with less than 105 students.
The competition wrapped up this week. The 2A, 4A and 6A contests were crowned last week, while the winners of the 1A, 3A and 5A contests were announced this week.
In 6A, the conference that Flower Mound competes in, Hebron High School in Carrollton placed second. The two schools were rooting for each other, Biskup said, noting a camaraderie between the bands.
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Wakeland High School in Frisco ISD won third place in the 5A conference. Frisco ISD’s Panther Creek High School, competing in 4A, placed third. Celina High School clinched first place in the 4A conference.
“Three and a half months of dedicated, intentional, hard work led to this achievement,” said Celina High School’s Bobcat Band on its Facebook page.
The journey to San Antonio was its own adventure. The Flower Mound marching band, made up of about 330 students, hopped on eight charter buses, accompanied by a “whole fleet of vehicles” that included two semi-trailers and box trucks.
Their attendance at the competition was a team effort, and Biskup applauded the efforts of parents, volunteers and chaperones.
“We’re moving a small town down to San Antonio,” Biskup said. “It’s just like a sports team. You’re trying to get the kids ready to be able to perform.”
After Flower Mound’s win was announced, the kids started jumping up and down and screaming, Biskup recalled.
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Picasso may have been a showstopper, but he wasn’t Flower Mound’s first rodeo with an artist. The marching band show designer, who has an art history degree, takes inspiration from the art scene, according to Biskup. The band has paid homage to Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama and Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí.
But the chosen muse for next year? Even Biskup is in the dark.
“We have an agreement with our show designer. I know he has ideas, but we don’t let him tell us until we’re done with the current year,” Biskup said with a chuckle.
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