The DHS marching band is one of the best in the state, having finished in the top 10 of its three competitions.

Part of the success can be traced back to DMS band director Ethan Wagoner, who arranged the music and choreographed the show.

“I began arranging and composing in high school. I was given the opportunity to write some pieces of music for our musical that I was in, and I wrote a piece,” Wagoner said.

Coming to the high school to help out, Wagoner is a key part of the show.

“This year’s show is very well designed,” senior Brandon Beal said. “Freshman year, the show changed pretty much every day. This year, they did a very good job writing it, and everything has fallen into place pretty well.”

After participating in a Drum Corps International (DCI) band called Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps, Wagoner gained more experience.

“He participated in a DCI band so he has a lot more experience than our leaders did my freshman year, so he’s more qualified to teach us,” senior Kendall Chance said.

He liked the music so much in “Sweeney Todd,” Wagoner had a vision.

“I began to think, ‘OK, you know this is about a barber, dark and like barbershop themes,'” Wagoner said. “We slowly picked new pieces of music to add to that and kind of develop this theme.”

Wagoner shared his vision with other directors.

“The nice thing about working with people collaboratively with designing is that they can all bring ideas,” Wagoner said. “So it’s been a cool team of teamwork.”