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CPHS combines energy, passion

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The drum majors for the Cedar Park High School Timberwolf Marching Band have more responsibility than learning music and directing it during halftime shows at football games.

They lead a group of 241 members by coming up with weekly action plans that are part of the band's “Move and Inspire” theme of 2008. They lead a group that's one of the favorites to win the state championship at the UIL Class 5A State Marching Band Contest on Tuesday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Drum major Maria Collazo looks forward to sizing up musicians from other schools. “It's really cool to go and see what the other bands are doing and to meet other band members,” she said.

Cedar Park was head and shoulders above everybody else at the Area D Contest last Saturday in Round Rock.

“Every contest so far has been a positive experience, both because of our scores and our performances,” said drum major Katie Rozacky. “This weekend will be an excellent cap to all that work.”

And now?

“It's time to amp it up,” Cedar Park associate band director Jeremy Spicer said.

Cedar Park knows a little about stepping it up a notch as it won the Class 4A state title in 2001 and finished second in 2004 in Class 5A.

Spicer chose the program before the marching season began. “I went with the best music I could find and what makes it good is the quality of the literature,” Spicer said. “But I picked music that I had a feeling the kids would latch on to.”

There's the fast, aggressive “Grohg Ballet in one act,” by Aaron Copland, balanced with the passionate and lush “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber. The show's finale is Barber's “Medea's Dance of Vengeance.”

Getting more than 200 members to learn music and march isn't as easy as one might think.

“It's difficult,” Spicer said. “But we have system and processes in place. We develop a fundamental skills set to learn the visual, then playing the music and then combining the visual and the playing of music.”

The members are certainly amped up for the state contest.

“I'm really excited,” said drum major Emily Peterson. “We've worked so hard this year and we can't wait to see it pay off.”

As for Sara Hartwig, another drum major, she said, “I'm really looking forward to seeing how our work this year is going to pay off. I'm especially proud since this is my senior year.”

Staff writer Charles Wood contributed to this report

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