Throngs of Iola High supporters showed up Friday night ready to cheer on the Mustangs on the football field for homecoming. KLEOPFER came up with “Battle Cry” over the summer. THE BUSY fall schedule has Iola performing at the Neewollah parade in Independence on Oct. 26 and at halftime of Iola’s football home finale Oct. 31 against Anderson County.
The most rousing cheers may have come at halftime.
Iola’s Marching Mustangs delivered a powerful performance of instructor Matt Kleopfer’s creation, “Battle Cry.”
The 7½-minute piece follows the story of a World War II-era soldier who finds love before being shipped off to battle.
Several in the audience approached Kleopfer after the performance, dabbing tears from their eyes.
“I was hoping for a strong reaction,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that.
“But that’s our goal,” he continued. “We want to be able to stir emotions.”
The performance was just the latest in what has become an increasingly popular performance by the IHS band, now in its second year under Kleopfer’s tutelage.
The fun will continue this Friday when Iola hosts Wellsville at Riverside Park.
The high-schoolers will be joined by Iola Middle School band students, putting more than 100 musicians on the field for the first time in years.
“It ought to be a good show,” Kleopfer said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
“I wanted to write something that challenged the kids,” he said. “I wanted a piece that would accentuate our strengths and challenge our weaknesses. We have some sections with more veteran performers who I know can handle certain numbers.”
The high school band, at 44 members, is down in numbers slightly from last year.
But what it lacks in numbers, the squad makes up for with its work ethic, Kleopfer said.
“These kids are amazing,” he said. “They’ll practice before school, after school, and most of these kids have other things going on outside of school.”
He estimates the students spend as much as seven hours a week outside of class in rehearsals.
The students have become so adaptable, they can learn changes in numbers with little warning.
For example, Kleopfer tweaked a portion of “Battle Cry” less than an hour before the students took to the field.
“That piece is always changing,” he said. “I have 45 minutes to think about it every day I drive to work. (He lives in Fredonia). The kids are used to it by now. They’ve become fast learners. They can pick up a change and go with it.”
The Oct. 31 performance will feature an extended version of “Battle Cry” with a special ending that Kleopfer will not reveal.
“It should be pretty special,” he said.
Then, as soon as football season ends, the tone shifts to pep band practice for basketball.
“Our goal is to have our band become so good that we can travel to road games and perform,” Kleopfer said.
Like last year, the pep band will have featured guests, including the Wichita State University pep band paying a visit Jan. 14. Other IHS alumni will be invited to perform in Iola’s last basketball game before Christmas break.
Hard work pays off
