Bingham band: Rachel Colton profile

In early January, I interviewed Rachel Colton, who served as mellophone section leader and was the actual president of the Bingham High School (Utah) marching band. She is a talented young woman that also had to deal with a rare setback. Here is the article that will appear in the Bingham 2012 band yearbook.

Rachel Colton:

One of team’s most talented players

led Bingham’s surge to raise the bar

By Bruce Smith

Matchup
 
            In so many ways, Rachel Colton stood out in the Bingham Marching Band.
            Her red hair is just one. In her case, though, that trait is low on the list.
            Colton was the mellophone section leader, but she was also the band president.  Her creativity is off the charts. She is on the school honor roll and is already an accomplished artist. As a senior, she also had to deal with an unusual curse.
            An allergy to the sun. That’s right. That big orange ball in the sky.
            “If I got more than a couple of hours in the sun, my ankles would swell,” she said. “It was painful, but I got to sit in the shade a lot and watch from a different point of view.”
            Last spring, her condition caused her to swell shut for a couple of days. Colton, however, had a positive, even confident, outlook. She dealt with the brief disfigurement well, and survived having to explain her rare diagnosis.
            “It made marching a lot harder,” she said. “Other than that, it wasn’t a big deal.”
            Her attributes were quickly noticed by band director Darin Graber and last year’s council, which voted her into the band’s top position.
            “She had already been in leadership,” Graber said. “She played the mellophone, which is difficult. You have to live with its imperfections and they (the mellophone group) knew their parts cold.
            “She was on our ‘disabled list’ and had to deal with kids dropping (out),” he added. “To finish as strong as we did, that speaks volumes for this ensemble. They were solid.”
            Colton’s musical career started young. She is the oldest of four children. Both of her parents played in their high school band. Colton began playing the piano at age 5 or 6 and then developed a strong interest in the drums. In middle school, that instrument wasn’t offered so she chose the French horn. Now, she teaches piano lessons, but also has experience with the flute, cello, clarinet, trumpet and even the guitar.
            “I have a lot of interests,” she said. “(In the future), I can always change to different careers.”
            Colton played in the marching band for three years. She said she noticed a “drastic change” in the band’s attitude this year and loved the fact that the group “raised the bar.” Her primary highlight of marching band was like everyone else’s – finishing in third place at the Bands of America competition and walking past many of the other teams and having them stand and cheer.
            She also had fond memories of the meals. Before each competition, the band’s booster club would provide a meal to the group. Last year, she said there was a food fight with a heavy dose of grapes.
            “This year, we were always cautious about grapes,” she said. “I’ll never look at grapes the same way.”
            Colton also had another impressive highlight, but it didn’t involve band. She has always had a strong interest – and talent – in art and had some of her work published in a Bingham High literary magazine called “Ambience.”
            “They had a contest and I won,” she recalled. “I did the cover and each of the beginning of each chapter. That was cool to be published.”
            Colton said she will turn 19 years old next October and planned to immediately serve an LDS Church mission. Upon returning, she hoped to attend Utah State University and major in either music or art.