Colorado Springs marching bands aim to defend their state titles
O'Dell Isaac, The Gazette
As high school marching bands across Colorado prepare for the upcoming competition season, two Colorado Springs-based bands are gearing up to try to defend their 2024 state titles.
Last October, The Classical Academy and Rampart High School marching bands realized the dream of every high school band student in the state, winning the finals of the 2024 Colorado Bandmasters Association State Championships in Class 2A and 4A, respectively. The two bands recently wrapped up their annual summer camps, learning new music and choreography in an effort to repeat as state champs.
For Tyrus Shah and the other senior members of the Rampart Regiment, it was the final band camp of their high school career, and their first as defending champions; the 2024 win was Rampart’s first in 18 years.
“It can be a lot,” Shah said of band camp. “It’s two weeks where your whole life is about band. But it’s also fun. I love band camp.”
The Classical Academy marching band members practice the choreography of their new routine.
A few miles away, the members of The Classical Academy’s marching band worked on their new routine, practicing the steps without instruments at first, as an electronic metronome set the pace. When a student made a misstep, he or she would drop to the turf and crank out a few push-ups.
“They self-admonish,” said Christina Schwartz-Soper, TCA’s band director. “When they make a mental mistake, they punish themselves by doing push-ups. It’s a reminder to themselves to keep their head in the game.”
The TCA Titans have won five state titles in the past six seasons, their last finals loss coming in 2019 when Eaton High School edged them out by less than a point. But Schwartz-Soper insists that winning state isn’t the ultimate goal.
“If you’ve brought a show to life, and performed your best, then you’ve won, in my opinion,” said Schwartz-Soper, who is entering her 22nd year at TCA. “If you’ve given your all to the product, then you can’t lose.”
A TCA Titans band member does push-ups during summer band camp last week.
One of the only charter high schools to field a marching band, The Classical Academy is classified as a 2A school because of its relatively small student population. At 115 members, the Titans band represents more than one-sixth of the school’s 650-person student body.
“There are schools who don’t think we should be in 2A because our band is so large,” Schwartz-Soper said. “But we have no control over that.”
This year, the Rampart Regiment will field 141 members, nearly 20 more than in 2024. The band has more than doubled in size since 2021, when schools in Colorado and across the U.S. were still adjusting to the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, the Rampart band fielded 67 students, according to director Keith Acuncius.
“The first year out of COVID was a tough one, and not just for us,” said Acuncius, who is beginning his 11th year at Rampart. “Every marching band felt that in a big way. But there seems to be a really good energy that we’ve been able to capitalize on for the last couple of years.”
Members of the Rampart High School marching band — dubbed the Rampart Regiment — practice their music and choreography during summer band camp last week.
Acuncius is a firm believer that band participation yields benefits that extend far beyond the playing field, which is why he encourages students to give it a try.
“We think band is important, that it gives kids a lot of opportunities to be successful later in life,” he said.
“So we encourage everybody to come out. Never played an instrument before? Join the band; we’ll teach you. Never spun a flag before? Join the band; we’ll teach you.”
Marching band isn’t considered a sport, but Acuncius and Schwartz-Soper insist that it is an athletic endeavor.
“For whatever reason, marching band members aren’t thought of as athletes,” Schwartz-Soper said. “I think that’s a grand misperception. It is as physically and mentally demanding as many sports.”
Josh Criswell, a senior TCA band member, agrees with his director’s assertion.
“I wasn’t under the impression that marching band was like a sport,” said Criswell, a drum major. “That changed after my first day of band camp.”
While band camp can be grueling, it is one of many shared experiences that forge a unique bond between band members, according to TCA sophomore Ava Burgeson.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” said Burgeson, who plays flute for the Titans. “But knowing that everyone is doing the hard work with me makes it easier.”
As schools prepare to begin the 2025-2026 academic year, things will start to move quickly for the Rampart and TCA bands. Football season kicks off in late August, which means the first halftime performances will happen in a couple of weeks. The competitive season starts in September. And before long, it will be time for state competition again.
Shah, the Rampart senior, said he will savor his final competitive season.
“The feeling of walking onto the field and playing a show, the adrenaline you get being in front of a massive crowd with all your friends … it’s amazing,” Shah said. “I’ll miss it.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated how long Christina Schwartz-Soper has been at TCA.