By Traci Chapman
Contributing Writer
Piedmont High School’s marching band last week put everything on the field in their last contest, pulling off a second place finish in state competition – the band’s best of the 2018 season.
“The day started early and there was nearly 12 hours in between prelims and finals performances,” Pride of Piedmont director James Rivera said. “The members and staff didn’t allow this challenge to define the end of their season.”
Those performances came at the Oct. 27 Oklahoma Bandmasters Association state contest, held this year at Bixby High School. With a final score of 82.55, the 130-member band brought its 2018 program, “The Genesis Engine,” to life, in the process outscoring all of its competitors except Coweta, which captured first place, as well as sweeping caption awards for music, visual and general effect.
“The Pride of Piedmont performed with great passion and precision,” Rivera said. “As their director, I could not have been prouder of their focus and efforts.”
That achievement came after earning an excellent rating at OSSAA West Division contest, held Oct. 23 at Yukon High School.
OSSAA is different than most other tournaments, which feature schools competing against each other for rankings. The secondary school association system provides feedback and ratings based solely on a band’s stand-alone performance.
While the excellent rating is short of OSSAA’s top designation – a superior assessment – it means a band shows only minor defects in its performance. To achieve the ranking bands must be “worthy of the distinction of being recognized as being among the best,” according to the OSSAA.
It was an exciting end to Rivera’s first season as head director and a positive way to head into winter/spring concert band activities, he said. While students continue to work hard as a team, they also now focus more acutely on individual achievement, as some take part in Central Oklahoma Directors Association – or CODA – auditions for prestigious state-level wind ensemble and symphonic honor bands.
For now, however, students and directors alike are taking a breather and celebrating the end of a busy season – and getting ready for the next round of challenges.
“Moving forward into concert season, I’m excited to take this experience and growth to the next level,” Rivera said.
