For a lot of people, lifelong friendships are made in the Marching Virginians. Whether it’s section bonding time or just striking up a conversation at the MVC, countless relationships begin with marching band. For some other people, these relationships start even earlier than college. A lot of our wonderful MVs came from high school band together, spending eight years doing what they love with the same people. We wanted to highlight these special relationships and commemorate all the years we have spent together making music.
Millbrook High School
Xander Hromiak ‘20, Hayden Gormas ‘21
Xander and Hayden both come from our lovely horn section here in the MVs. They hail from Winchester, VA, both a part of the Millbrook High School Marching Band. Their favorite memory from high school band is “the anticipation of the triple double crunchwrap supreme”.
Hickory High School
Gracie Maslyn '21, Thomas Chase '21, Cole Sawyer '20
Next we travel to Virginia Beach, where we meet Gracie Maslyn, Cole Sawyer, and Thomas Chase, all former members of the Hickory High School Marching Band. This band had a lot of fun with each other, with their favorite memories being going to Band of America Regionals at Liberty University, playing awesome games at band camp, and all the fun memories traveling with each other.
King George High School
Jacob Banerjee ‘19, Jonathan Amorino ‘22
Jacob and Jonathan, both members of the trombone section, have been marching together since their days at King George High School, in King George, VA. While their most memorable moment is the loss of their Senior Night football game, they have had many moments of fun with each other, especially since joining the Marching Virginians.
Grafton High School
Julia Darden ‘21 Jackson Kirsch ‘21, Ax Phan ‘20, Trey Kalil ‘20, Carrie Frecker ‘19, Calvin Moore ‘19, Jackson Davies ‘19, Tim Asher ‘19, Meadow Dawes ‘22
Next up is a gigantic and memorable group of Marching Virginians from Grafton High School, in Yorktown, VA. 9 of our MVs have been marching together for years, but not always successfully. Their favorite memory from HS was when Trey Kalil fell down in the middle of a competition, but got right back up and began marching in step on beat. It was so memorable that the video of the recording has lived long after all of them graduated.
Clarke County High School
John Kizer ‘20, Claire Holmes ‘19, Olivia Holmes ‘21, Charles Casey ‘21, Nico Ottobre ‘22, Nate Blackwell ‘22
All of these MVs hail from Clarke County High School, in Berryville, VA. They were all in the band together in 2018, and that year had a vampire themed show. One of Nate’s favorite memories that year was getting to march at championships with his arm in a brace because he broke my arm at band camp! He says “It was really cool to march with all of my friends even when I had to march with a concert horn!”
Charlottesville High School
Tommy Fruscello ‘22, Talia Moore ‘22, Claire Wildermann ‘22
Coming from a small high school, these three MVs from Charlottesville High School were very close before coming to Virginia Tech. According to them, Charlottesville High School’s band had bonds that superseded the section divide. All sections shared a lot of memories playing with each other through their tenure in band.
Pulaski County High School
Alex Haynes '22, Charlie “Kachow” Buchinsky '19
Coming closer to home, Alex and Charlie marched together at Pulaski County High School in Dublin, VA. They were able to share so many fun memories together, most notably traveling to All District and All State band.
Dominion High School
Isabel Hasson '19, Gillian Murphy '19, Alex Rutkowski '22, Myles Phillips '18, Aaron George '19, Kristin Rice '20, Samantha Frietchen '19
Lastly, we have an unforgettable group of MVs from Northern VA. The seven of them hail from Dominion High School, in Sterling VA. A fond memory they have from high school was getting to participate in Parade of Champions in 2017, as well as getting first place at a competition in 2018!!
These are just some of the bonds that were able to be strengthened through spending time in the MVs. It is so special to be able to know someone for upwards of eight years! The MVs is truly a place for lifelong friendships.