Madison Central High School Marching Band takes home first place in Kentucky state finals
Saturday night was a family affair for the Hamilton family, who watched the Madison Central High School Marching Band become the 2022 Kentucky Music Educators Association Class 5A state champions.
The Madison Central High School band took first place in the state finals held at Eastern Kentucky University’s Roy Kidd Stadium on Saturday night. The school competed against 10 other schools throughout Kentucky in their class during the finals. Lafayette, Henry Clay and Paul Laurence Dunbar high schools also compete in Class 5A.
Senior Kennedy Hamilton, 17, a lifelong Richmond native, was one of 190 band members that was able to take home the title of “state champion.”
She said when her school was announced the winner, the news did not feel real.
“There is this aura around you and we just felt the magic in the run. We were all praying and holding hands. It was the coolest thing ever and it just didn’t feel real,” she said.
Hamilton has participated in band since middle school playing the clarinet. She has performed in the state finals all four years of high school.
“It was especially cool because the past two other times that I have been in we got second,” she said. “Our director, David Jaggie, had never gotten a state championship as a director and it was cool to give him that before we went out.”
Kennedy’s father, Charley Hamilton, was in the stands with his wife, Shawna. Their son, JC, was formerly in Madison Central’s band, and performed Saturday as part of Eastern Kentucky University’s drumline, playing the bass drum.
Charley Hamilton also was a part of the Madison Central High School band, and said his senior year was the first time Madison Central finished first in the state championship.
“From my perspective, we won state my senior year and were the first to do it and it was nice to see that get passed down through a generation,” he said.
He said he thought the band “nailed” the performance.
“I watched them all day and when they performed for the first time in the preliminary round they really nailed it and I thought they were going to win,” he said. “Hearing it be said was very emotional.”
Like Hamilton, band Director David Jaggie said the news had not quite sunk in for him yet on Sunday morning.
“I am feeling terrific and really excited for our students, our community and our school,” Jaggie said. “It is exciting for all of us.”
The theme of Madison Central’s performance was called “Now I See,” and is an emotional piece based off the lyrics to “Amazing Grace,” according to Jaggie. It included music also from Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors.” The performers were blindfolded during the first half of the show, which Jaggie said was a representation of the overall theme.
“(The blindfolds) represents them not seeing, in a larger sense not seeing yourself, and that’s where the (song) ‘Mirrors’ kicks in,” he said. “As teachers and as musicians and the staff that stands in front of the band, the goal was for students to see the potential we see in them and go through that journey.
“When the students wake up today, I feel they will see themselves in a different way, and a lot closer to the way our staff sees them.”
The “Now I See” performance was originally slated for the school’s 2020 season. However, Jaggie said the theme was tabled because it felt too special, and there was a lot of uncertainty of what the season would look like.
In 2021, following the initial onset of the pandemic, Jaggie said the theme was once again tabled because the subject matter was so emotional and deep.
“A year ago I just didn’t know that they would have been in an emotional place to do that,” Jaggie said. “It is tricky and challenging to be emotional to convey something serious to the audience; have to have a good foundation and be in a good place. So we took a break in 2021 to do something fun.”
He said performing in Richmond at Roy Kidd Stadium was also something that made the performance extra special, welcoming band alumni, school administration, university support, and other families who couldn’t otherwise travel to other areas in the state.
“We were able to perform in front of a larger Madison County crowd than we normally get, and show them what we have been up to and where we are at right now,” he said.
Jaggie thanked the parents, and band alumni from 2020 and 2021 who helped this year’s band.
“The parents’ support at Madison Central is overwhelming,” he said. “They are wonderful and they dedicate so much time to so many different things. But one of the real treasures is watching how they treat students who are not their own. Our vision of uplifting everybody, and they take that to heart and they do it themselves.”
Regarding the former band members, he said they set this group up for success.
“They persevered in their love for music and love of band when there were a lot of choices that would have been easier. Those students’ maturity and approach to what they had to deal with in their senior year really set us up to do something special last night,” Jaggie said.
Following Madison Central, Lafayette High School placed second, Larry A. Ryle High School placed third, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School ranked fourth, Henry Clay High School came in fifth and George Rogers Clark High School finished sixth.
In Class 1A, Washington County High School in Springfield took home first place. Glasgow High School took home first place for Class 2A. First place was awarded to Estill County High School for Class 3A. Bourbon County High School took home first place for Class 4A. A full list of results for all five classes can be viewed online.
This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 2:13 PM.
