In early August, the Bishop Gorman Marching Band, led by Bishop Gorman Director of Instrumental Music Dr. Cao, performed in front of a crowded Cashman Field during a Vegas Lights FC game. 

This event was long in the making, as the band had been preparing for this performance since early this year. Dr. Cao explained, “We were contacted in February and asked if we were available to perform with the marching band at their Back to School Night.”

The band performed in conjunction with the marching band of Sunrise Mountain High School, led by Dr. Cao’s and Sunrise Mountain High School Band Director Angela Cresap. The two directors, who are two of seven female band directors in Clark County, had performed together in the semi-professional wind ensemble The Desert Winds, so the chemistry was easy to rekindle. The bands had rehearsed separately for months on a predetermined setlist, and first got together the day of the performance. 

“The game started at 7 p.m. and we met up [with Sunrise Mountain High School] at 5:45 p.m. that day, and ended up putting our bands together and running through some of the songs,” Dr. Cao recalled.

Dr. Cao and Mrs. Cresap was also awarded by the Lights FC organization that night with a ‘Pink Scarf Award,’ a service award for contributing community members. All in all, it was a successful night at Cashman Field, not only for the band, but for the Vegas Lights FC themselves, who won their only home game of the season that night. Dr. Cao explained that because of this, the Club thought of the band as sort of a “good luck charm,” and asked them to perform again in the future.