The year 2017 marks the 10th anniversary of Halftime Magazine. Time flies when you’re marching along in life.
As we’ve brought you the sights, sounds, and spirit of the marching arts, we’ve seen many changes in the activity—more customized expression with electronics use, drum wraps, costume changes, and bigger props; greater visibility by the general public into the band world due to social media; more opportunities for wind musicians to get involved with winter and summer marching activities; as well as increased oversight of student behavior. Throughout it all, we have not wavered in our mission to educate, entertain, and inspire you to grow your program and stretch your skills.
We are excited to celebrate this milestone anniversary with you in several different ways. You may have already noticed the overall redesign of the magazine. With subtle yet obvious changes, the magazine’s fresh look gives you bigger pictures and streamlined text. We will also be exploring a new tradeshow booth setup, so look for us at WGI Sport of the Arts, Drum Corps International, and Bands of America championship events. And finally, we will have some fun contests.
In this issue, we are proud to bring you our 10th annual Tournament of Roses photo spread. The Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game showcase bands in a very visible way. We add to the festivities by giving you a peek into the performers’ excitement and achievement each year.
We also cover Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades to highlight how communities and bands across the country celebrate diversity and King’s legacy of peaceful gatherings.
Our third feature article, “Following the Props,” gives you great ideas on how to reuse, recycle, and sell used equipment.
We hope you enjoy this issue and continue to read Halftime Magazine for many more years to come. As always, please contact us with your ideas, thoughts, and stories.
Keep on Marching,
Christine Ngeo Katzman
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
