After a successful competition season, the Orange Lutheran Marching Band is headed to the 2025 Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association Field Championships. As one of 12 finalist schools in SCSBOA’s 1A division, the Lancers will compete for the title on Saturday, November 22, at Duarte High School.

Under the guidance of OLu Director of Instrumental Music Aaron Zeilinger, the Lancers have qualified for the Finals for the first time in Zeilinger’s eight seasons leading the marching band program.

This year’s show, titled Night Train, takes the audience on a journey from boarding a nighttime train through to the first light of day. The opener to the nine-minute show is based off of the Radiohead song “Everything in Its Right Place” and includes two additional original compositions.

The 27 Lancer marching band performers feature wind and percussion musicians, along with color guard members. The show highlights clarinet, alto and trumpet soloists, and incorporates train station-themed details such as railroad track signs and ringing train bells.

The process of selecting a marching band field show usually begins in the spring when Zeilinger has a clear sense of the number of students and the instrumentation for the coming fall. After choosing a show that best fits the group, the summer months are spent planning, and the band comes together at the start of the school year for camp to learn and rehearse the production.

The show saw early success leading up to the Finals, including earning one 1st-place finish and two 2nd-place awards in the four competitions they participated in over the past two months. OLu will enter Saturday’s Finals seeded 11^th out of the 32 bands in their division, and Zeilinger is proud of what the Lancers have been able to accomplish thus far.

“It's our most difficult show I've done in what I'm asking the performers to do and the difficulty of the notes and the arrangements,” said Zeilinger. “The show was originally written for a big band, and we took it and whittled it down, so there's no hiding. Every single person's playing their parts.”

Now in his third year with the Orange Lutheran Marching Band, Lancer junior Gage Hasenyager plays alto saxophone and also takes part in the color guard during marching season. He believes that the complexity of Night Train has not only brought the team together but also made their success feel earned as a group.

“I think one of the best parts about (Night Train) is that it's hard, so we all feel like we're doing something really important together,” says Hasenyager. “We feel like we're overcoming a challenge whenever we’ve had a good run…It's really fun, and it's probably one of my favorites that we've done.”

Lancer senior Emily Paul is in her first year with the marching band program and as a musician who plays percussion, she opens and closes the show with the train bell. She also feels the challenge of Night Train brings out the best in the team.

“We have such a small group of people, but we still really shine and are able to put our best foot forward,” says Paul. “We all work together and are able to show that we can all do difficult things, and it shows individually.”

The marching band team also leads pep tunes at OLu’s home football games each fall, and this year the group performed a segment of their Night Train show during halftime at Homecoming last month.

Once marching band season is complete, the musicians transition into smaller groups, whether it is String Ensemble, Jazz Band or Wind Ensemble preparing for the Christmas at the Nechita Instrumental Concert (December 6), or the winter competition season for the color guard and percussion teams.

Many marching band members are also active in other arts disciplines, including Hasenyager and Paul, who both participate in the school’s theatre tech program and contributed to OLu’s recent production of Catch Me If You Can.

“I love the collaborative effort of all the different departments and how much they show up for one another,” says Paul.

“We're not just limited to instrumental arts, and I think it's really fun that there's a lot of crossover in all of the arts and we're all working together,” says Hasenyager. “The best part for me is the community.”

Although this is her first year in marching band, Paul has found a group that has welcomed her and provided her a place to grow.

“Even though I've joined as a senior, that didn't prevent me from being able to do a lot of cool things and learn a lot for such a short amount of time,” says Paul. “All the instructors and students really helped influence my growth and gave me a lot of support when I needed it.”

The Orange Lutheran Marching Band offers a student experience central to OLu’s commitment to the arts and is a key reason why Zeilinger is so passionate about providing this opportunity for Lancer musicians and performers.

“That's why I do marching band,” says Zeilinger. “We spend so much time together…it forces connection, it forces camaraderie and they start to help each other. There's no other real way in instrumental music that causes that sort of community to happen.”