Marching Band participated in the State Band competition on Dec. 15, 2020, placing 15th overall.

Texas has about 240-250 6A schools, meaning that a school has at least 2,100 people attending, who are eligible to compete against Bridgeland High School this. Schools can also only qualify for state every other year. Of those schools, including Bridgeland, only about 98 bands auditioned for the University Interscholastic League (UIL) review process. 

“Making it to state in our fourth year is a real milestone… a real big benchmark,” band assistant director Brenton Marquart said. “In any program, growth and to even be considered with those other 20 bands is a huge, huge honor.”

Each year, the band picks a theme for performances. This year, the performance was named ‘The Geometry of Red’, which describes the different emotions the color red represents, such as anger and love. After contesting, their piece is judged and the students sit awaiting their results.

“There’s always anxiety in any competition. We’re confident in our abilities and the kids are confident in their performance usually, but there’s always nerves and anxiety because you put yourself out there with a musical product, and it’s up to five strangers so you don’t know to judge your musical product,” Marquart said. “so it’s always a bit nerve wracking to see what they’re looking for and how they place you.”

According to junior Joshua Vasek, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, band students were limited on what activities they could participate in. However, they were given the option to participate in State band competitions, and they took it. They were able to participate while following all the safety procedures and do their best at State.

“We’re pretty happy about our placement because that means we’re in the top 20 bands in all of Texas,” Vasek said. “[It’s] quite the accomplishment, especially seeing how large Texas is and how many different bands there are [within].”

Drum Major junior Maggie Chvatal said that this year, the band worked as hard as they could to get everything out of the season. She gets to see the bigger picture of everything, including the band’s progress throughout the marching season. 

“For me, this year represented growth. This was my first year as drum major, so I had to apply my leadership skills in a different manner and had to learn to make the best of an uncertain situation,” Chvatal said. “I learned a lot about myself and grew as a person.”