Chien Kuo High School Marching Band won third place at the 19th World Music Contest in the Netherlands recently. Having completed their quarantine in Taiwan, band members came out to share with reporters what it took to win in the so-called Olympics of marching bands.

When the winner was announced, members of the marching band struck a pose symbolizing glory. The band’s conductor Yeh Keng-lun went on stage to receive the WMC’s third prize on behalf of Chien Kuo High School marching band.

Members of the winds, percussion and color guard worked together in unison to deliver a visually and musically dazzling performance. In addition to Chien Kuo High School students, other members of the band included the school’s alumni, as well as students from Taipei First Girls’ High School and Jingmei Girls’ High School.

Yang Cheng-yen
Bandleader
Everyone performed to the level they should have on the field, so I think the result of this competition was very satisfactory to me, and they are well deserved.

Before the competition, the band underwent two weeks of grueling training. The band’s 74 members practiced from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day under the scorching sun. They had to know by heart more than 70 formations within a week’s time.

Yang Hao-min
Color guard captain
We had people getting heatstroke or injured during the process, because when handling the props for the action, there was a lot of throwing and catching, so it was easy to hurt your hand, or get heatstroke.

Held once every four years, the World Music Contest is dubbed the Olympics of marching bands. In the 40 years that Chien Kuo High School marching band has been around, this is the first time that it included band members from other schools to compete at an international contest. Their hard work paid off as they helped put Taiwan on the world stage.