Up and Coming Bands (Where did they come from?)

[whitewing09]

It's easy to understand the development of CTJ and Vandegrift over the last few years. They were brand new schools so they had to building from scratch. 

 

But my question is, where did bands like Anderson, Round Rock, and Flower Mound come from? They aren't exactly new schools. I know that Round Rock has been a pretty strong band in a very strong area for a while and hadn't jumped on the BOA bandwagon until recently (which would explain why they seem like an up and coming band), but I don't remember their shows being particularly BOA friendly in the past. I remember them doing a lot of Key Poulan and being clean, but not dynamic. (I also haven't seen them live since 2007, so a lot can change in that time). They just seem to be going in a different direction from before. What's change? Have the directors change or did they just decide to adapt a new style? Then there's Anderson and Flower Mound making finals at SA in the past couple of years. What brings them to the stage?

[scoobydoo]

It's easy to understand the development of CTJ and Vandegrift over the last few years. They were brand new schools so they had to building from scratch. 

 

But my question is, where did bands like Anderson, Round Rock, and Flower Mound come from? They aren't exactly new schools. I know that Round Rock has been a pretty strong band in a very strong area for a while and hadn't jumped on the BOA bandwagon until recently (which would explain why they seem like an up and coming band), but I don't remember their shows being particularly BOA friendly in the past. I remember them doing a lot of Key Poulan and being clean, but not dynamic. (I also haven't seen them live since 2007, so a lot can change in that time). They just seem to be going in a different direction from before. What's change? Have the directors change or did they just decide to adapt a new style? Then there's Anderson and Flower Mound making finals at SA in the past couple of years. What brings them to the stage?

 

Round Rock  had a bunch of  changes starting in 2010. A new music arranger,drill writer and a new color guard director. Their color guard director has been a major reason why RR has become more BOA friendly. He brought their color guard back from the dead and has made them one of the best in the state. He also works quite a bit with the band, designs their shows ect.. Last year they added a new assistant director. He was recently named the visual caption head at Phantom Regiment, where he is starting his 7th season as an instructor.This year they added another assistant director.She was formerly a drum major at Cedar Park, if any of you CP peeps remember Katie Rozacky. While attending UNT she worked with Marcus, she also is currently a staff member with Carolina Crown. They are both very impressive additions to RR's staff.

[takigan]

Ed Stein was at Round Rock back when I was in school (he'd been there for quite awhile before that as well).  He was there in 2007.  He's no longer there anymore.  Once upon a time Round Rock won the State championship.  I don't necessarily think Round Rock got weaker during the 90s....I think CenTex just exploded in population and so many new schools entered the fray.

Spikes in school success generally boils down to staff changes...not necessarily the HS head director, but every component of the staff...even the middle school staff and the high school principal.  A community of students has a certain level of potential based on many many cultural factors (family occupation, district administrative priorities, income level, single parent households, availability of private lessons, parents who've been in band etc.)....it's the teachers' job to understand how the students think, know what they're capable of and draw that potential out.  Teaching is only a small part of that formula. 

Some students can only be pushed so far before they decide that's as far as they want to go...some will follow their teachers even into death, and with the right staff, can achieve many great things.  I've seen schools with tons of potential...they have numerous resources available to them, but they have directors who simply view their position as an 8-5 job..."Band is all about fun and it's no big deal if we win or lose as long as we enjoy it".  I've seen schools that do incredible things despite a mountain of disadvantages because they had a handful of visionary directors who literally transformed their students' lives to where many of the kids would rather be at the band hall all the time than go home to their families.  They stay there til the band director kicks them out....8, 9pm, whatever....because there's nothing really waiting for them at home.  Kids like these can make magic.

TL;DR - Level of teaching and the vision of the head director (first and foremost), the vision of the administration, the values of the students and their families....those are what affects the competitiveness of a High School band.  The 3 bands mentioned have had very recent changes in these areas that have contributed to this newfound success.

[medina5012]

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[trumpetlove11]

Lakeridge! Second year school in state

[clarinetsrock]

True, but LakeRidge is coming from a very strong band department across the district.  Mansfield, Timberview, Legacy, and Summit all have strong band programs.  So, while a new school, the students were all raised in the same program as the rest of the district.  Matt Garrett moved from Mansfield as Asst. Director to Director at LakeRidge, and his drill writing skills and guard skills are well established.  Still, you are correct, it is amazing for a second year school to make it to states.  Kudos to them.

[bronsonphil]

I used to be taught be Mr Garrett at Mansfield, great person

[Loudsaxes1]

I know Garrett. E went to poteet and was under Scott coulson

[FloMoParent]

For Flower Mound 2011 - Belle Epoque was the real beginning of the move to being a serious BOA competitor.  That was the last year of Mr. Meyers (wonderful director, but it seemed as if marching was not his primary focus).  The show was much note complex than previous years and resulted in a ninth place finish in the 2011 San Antonio BOA Super Regional, the school's first appearance in the BOA Super Regional Final.

 

The 2012 show, "The Greatest Show" was the next step, the current director, Mr. Biskup was now at the helm, and the band was making great strides.  The show was a great success and many people were shocked that "The Greatest Show" did not advance to state.  The show did make finals in 2012 San Antonio BOA Super Regional placing 11th, but with a much higher final score than the previous year.  

 

2013 brought "FloModern" a show that highlighted the improvement in all spectrums of the band, even placing 6th at 2013 BOA Conroe Regional (standings: 1. The Woodlands*, 2. CTJ,* 3. Cedar Ridge*, 4. Hebron*, 5. Cedar Park*, 6. FMHS, 7. Ronald Reagan*, 8. James E. Taylor 9. Woodlands, College Park, 10. Winston Churchill*.  *-2013 Super Regional finalist).  The 2013 San Antonio Super Regional featured many top end bands and FMHS fell just a bit short of making the finals (18th in prelim).  We (the parents and students) were crushed.  We thought we had a finals worthy show, several seasoned BOA vets commented "see you tonight" in regards to playing in the finals.

In short the dedication by the staff, students, and parents to transform Flower Mound High School into not just Flower Mound-Marcus's neighbor and "little brother" but actual competition is moving forward.  In the Lewisville ISD we compete also with Hebron, Lewisville (another up and comer who may make a BOA appearance in the next couple years) and in our Area, we compete with LD Bell, Richland, the Plano schools, and many other high performing bands.

[Xenon]

Mr Watson is doing fantastic things in Lewisville ISD.

[bchorn]

Anderson's rise is due to a change in band directors 8 years ago.  The new band director Ryan Zysk replaced Anderson's long time band director Ron Battani who I played for when I went to Anderson from 86-90.  Battani's speciality was jazz so he always had some good jazz bands under his watch.  Marching band, on the other hand, was a necessary evil to him and therefore Anderson didn't do as well on the football field with him.  It sucked for me because I wanted us to go to state so bad.  I watched all the state marching competitions at DKR every year I was in high school.  I read the bio on the new band director and he was drum major for the Longhorn band when he was in college so he deeply cares about marching band.  So I credit Anderson's rise to a marching band contender due to Mr Zysk.

[thelobosoldier]

The 4a area is just developing so much. The finals this year were so competitive. If the Lehman Band, 10th and last in finals, were in the state marching contest, they probably would have gotten pretty close or just near finals. Its a shame that they only allow so few bands from such a good area.