On March 28th, Concordia’s Symphonic Band and Handbell Choir members traveled to Waco, TX to compete in the TAPPS 6A State Instrumental Music Championships. The students did an outstanding job representing Concordia as they successfully defended their 2022, 2023, and 2024 State Titles and became the 2025 TAPPS 6A Instrumental Music State Champions!
At the state competition, which featured large ensembles, the Crusaders featured five performance groups and all of them earned “1 Superior” ratings. These groups included our Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Sader Jazz Six, Handbell Choir, and a Handbell duet. The judges unanimously agreed that all of these entries deserved the highest rating based on their challenging level of music in addition to how well the music was performed.
Concordia’s quest for the 2024-2025 State Title began in Fall 2024 with 85 points from finishes in Fall’s Field Band and Drumline contests. In March, TAPPS hosted the Solo/Small Ensemble competition at regional locations with an additional 217 points being tallied toward the Crusader’s final year total. These two categories as well as the Large Ensemble performances in Waco (280 points) were combined to crown the top school.
Concordia secured a 1st place finish over state runner-up St. Thomas Catholic (Houston, TX) with a total score of 582 points compared to St. Thomas’ 337 and Antonian College Prep’s (San Antonio, TX) 297.5. The 280 points earned by Concordia in the Large Ensemble portion of year-long competition, tied for the highest point total for any school across TAPPS’ six divisions for Large Ensembles. The Crusader’s 582 points is just shy of their 584 total in 2024.
According to Mr. Held, CLHS Director of Fine Arts and Director of Instrumental Music, he shared these thoughts: “After a long day of performing, our Crusaders performed amazingly well with their personal best performances on many of our pieces, which is a goal we set for the students. Every event that performed today earned a 1 rating and earned many strong complements from the judges!”
He continued: “More than the state championships, I am proud of our students earning the “Sweepstakes” award in symphonic band. Sweepstakes means you earn a 1 rating in your concert pieces and a 1 rating in sight-reading. This is a reflection on a great group of students who not only perform well but also can play a never-before-seen band piece at a high musical level. To earn sweepstakes, you need to be an exemplary band.”
Finally, Mr. Held shared, “For our seniors, this is our 4th State Championship in a row. This senior class has been a crucial part of this current run of success, and they will be hard to replace.”
You can hear all of our large ensemble groups performing at our final concerts of the year which include:
Spring Handbell Concert – Thursday, April 1st at 6:30 pm at Concordia (featuring ensembles from Concordia and Salem Lutheran School)
Spring Band Festival – Sunday, April 6th at 6 pm at Concordia (featuring bands from Concordia, Salem Lutheran School, and Trinity Klein Lutheran School)
POPS Concert – Saturday, May 13th at 6 pm at Concordia
Soli Deo Gloria! (To God Alone Be The Glory)
For more information on all of our Fine Arts, visit www.sadernationtx.com/finearts