By: Byron Reed, 9 News | The marching band program at Prairie View High School made history last year when they qualified for the Colorado Bandmasters Association’s state championships in Colorado Springs. The Thunderhawk Pride marching band qualified for the first time in the school’s history after starting off the year faced with challenges. The band went through three leadership changes in the span of three months. Current Director of Bands Armando Solis said he took over the program at the last minute and was teaching his students within three days of his hiring.
“It was unreal, to be honest,” said Solis. “We took a show that was done by one director and then another director…then we took over with a whole new staff and the kids were amazing and rolled with the punches.”
Sophomore saxophone player Kayla Clark is in her second year with the band. She said the beginning of her freshman season was very difficult.
“We had the original director for the first couple weeks of school, then we had our other director,” said Clark. “Then we had Mr. Solis come in and he took us all the way to state…he came in at the end of band camp and took us all the way to state.”
Their challenges last year ended up paving the way for a trip to Falcon Stadium last fall to compete for the state title. This year, this group was working hard at their summer band camp at the beginning of August with hopes of making it back to the state championships.
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Read the rest of this “rags to riches” Glee story here and watch the video news segment:
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/brighton-marching-band-pursuit-5a-state-title/
9 News Editor’s note: This story is part of 9NEWS’ “Hearts of Champions: Marching across Colorado” series, where we’re highlighting marching bands across the state. Watch our full stories Friday mornings through the middle of September. Share your photos and memories with us using #Bandon9.
Photo: Prairie View High School Marching Band | https://www.facebook.com/thunderhawkpride/
Brighton’s Prairie View High School Marching Band Making Waves in Their Pursuit of a 5A State Title
