Coppell marching band snags spot in state finals (with video)

This year is a transition year for Coppell High School’s marching band, causing lower expectations among many students.

But despite of the retirement of former director Scott Mason, who died from cancer in September, and missing the mark at the Bands of America competition, new directors and band students took on the year with passion and perseverance, and early doubts were replaced with self assurance that led the group to the UIL Marching Band State Finals last weekend.  

The UIL Marching Band biannual contest began with 239 competing Class 6A bands. After four rounds of competition, the CHS Marching Band earned a spot as one of 12 bands to compete in state finals, where they placed 11th overall.

The band’s show “Now I See” included Amazing Grace, Savannah River Holiday, It Is Well with My Soul, 107 Steps and Organ Symphony.

“Two of my favorite songs that we played, Amazing Grace and It Is Well with My Soul, were two church hymns that were Mr. Mason’s favorite,” junior front ensemble co-captain John Coffee said. “[They] were like memorials to [Mason] and that’s why I think it mattered so much to so many people to get to make it to state another year and to represent him.”

On the way down to the competition, students jokingly condemned their predicted results of the band’s performance in semifinals, some saying there was “no way” the group would ever make finals. Senior Vili Tuppurainen, vice president of the CHS Marching Band, was confident in its ability, despite the hardships the group endured throughout the year.

“Before this year I was very skeptical because I knew it was going to be a transition year, but throughout the season I got more and more confident,” Vili said.

The dedication and attention to detail that brought the band to San Antonio continued to be exercised throughout the trip. On Monday, performers spent six hours at Heroes Stadium fine tuning their production. The rehearsal, though long, was met with few complaints.

“The community of people in band are all so hardworking,” Coffee said. “We’re all so passionate even if it’s something as little as a eight minute show that we’re only going to play once in this big competition.”

The marching band competed in the preliminary rounds Nov. 8. Due to inclement weather, the group was separated into small rooms during warm ups. The situation was far from ideal as color guard and front ensemble did not get the space to warm up that they would have outside. Still, the band placed 12th, qualifying them for the final round of the competition.

Students and directors alike were thrilled when Coppell was called among the bands qualifying for finals, but the day to follow was packed leading up to the final hours of the UIL Marching Band Contest.

“Making Finals is a huge honor, and as a director, I wanted to make sure we had our best performance,” Miller said. “Running the show at 8:15 p.m. and then again the next morning at 9:15 a.m. is challenging – while 13 hours may seem long, when you had sleep, travel time, and reset/warm-up time in between, it’s a faster turnaround than we would have liked.”

The band stood in the cold rain Wednesday morning before they performed in the alamodome with clarity and musicality that many thought defined it as their best run.

“We went through so much together this year and it felt like it all culminated with that performance,” junior drum major Ashna Pathan said.

Before prelims, leaders and directors talked to the band about what to take away from the performance. While the trophy symbolizes the group’s outstanding performance, it isn’t the goal the band set out for.

“The most important aspect of performing at this level is about bringing the audience into our ‘world’, so to speak,” Miller said. “It’s about finding a connection – making someone smile, or someone cry – as a performer, when we make an intimate connection with someone who is hundreds of yards away – or who is viewing it through their computer screen – I know we’re doing our job at the very highest levels.”

Follow Amelia @ameliavanyo