Organ Mountain High School's marching band won the grand championship at the Zia Marching Fiesta, a first for director Shawn Silva in 28 years of teaching.

The milestone was first reported by the Las Cruces Bulletin. The Royal Knight Regiment, a program of nearly 200 students, then placed second in Class 5A at the New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA) State Marching Band Contest, scoring 86.888, according to Las Cruces Public Schools results posted Oct. 26. V Sue Cleveland High School took first with 88.513.

Fellow Las Cruces program Centennial High School placed sixth with 80.463. Centennial's color guard won the Color Guard caption award at the state contest.

The Zia Marching Fiesta is one of New Mexico's longest-running marching band competitions. Silva told the Bulletin that the championship, while meaningful, doesn't define his program. He said the band focuses only on what it can control, not on other programs or competition outcomes.

"It only gets harder. But you can succeed at it, and you can learn how to succeed," Silva said, describing the life lesson he wants students to take from Organ Mountain's band program.

Silva directs the program alongside Jonathan Wheatley and Josh Bryant. He said his goal extends beyond trophies. He wants students to learn perseverance and the value of working toward something difficult. He told the Bulletin there is no substitute for hard, dedicated work and effort.

A year of preparation for eight minutes

This season's production, "Echoes from the Canyon," draws inspiration from the Grand Canyon and the American Southwest. Musical selections included "The Great Divide," "Grand Canyon Fanfare," John Mackey's "Kingfishers Catch Fire" and "Hymn to a Blue Hour," and "Wind River," the Bulletin reported.

Preparing the eight-minute performance took nearly a year. Silva and his fellow directors begin working with a design team each November, shortly after the previous season ends. Music arrangers, drill writers, choreographers and visual designers collaborate on the production.

Students start rehearsals in late July. The band builds the show piece by piece, with the final portion added in early October. About 35 color guard members add choreography, flags and costumes. Judges evaluate marching precision, visual presentation, color guard integration and overall effect.

From saxophone to the podium

Silva started playing saxophone in sixth grade. He was headed to New Mexico State University to study chemistry when he switched to music education on the drive to campus, he told the Bulletin.

He has been teaching band ever since. After marching season ends, the single 200-student group splits into four concert bands, several jazz bands, color guard groups, percussion ensembles and a basketball band. Silva and his colleagues manage as many as a dozen groups at once.

Silva credited Wheatley, Bryant, the color guard and percussion staff, school administration and a band parent organization for the program's success. Most of all, he credited the students, who arrive for early-morning rehearsals and learn to depend on one another.

"We're just a guide to the process," he told the Bulletin. "They're the ones that are doing the work."

During those early-morning rehearsals, as the sun rises over the Organ Mountains, Silva tells his students to look around. They tease him about getting up at 4:30 a.m.