When Christopher Bronson was introduced as the marching band’s new Director, many students were curious about his leadership style. This question was soon answered during his inspirational speeches toward the band.

“During our lunch period, I came up to Mr. Bronson and I was like ‘Hey man have you done Ted Talks before?” freshman trombone player Keegan Nash said.

Bronson’s goal using Ted Talk-style speeches was to utilize music as a vehicle for lessons that his students could take into their futures.

“My goals are always to help the students be the best version of themselves at any given point in time,” Bronson said.

Band entered the UIL Marching season under Bronson’s guidance and many, including senior saxophonist Ben Dalton, found the transition challenging.

“Having a new band director is losing the familiarity that you’ve had with your old director throughout the years,” Dalton said. “When you have a new director, you don’t have that rapport with them.”

Woodwind Captain Matt Hock says the band has felt a positive impact as a result of the new director.

“I think he has helped us in our marching compared to previous years, and he has helped our sound as a band,” Hock said. “He helped bring the band from a year of covid back to where we were before covid.”

The band program worked hard to set new goals under its new director, and Bronson emphasized the importance of limiting negative outside influences.

“If we don’t have control over it, we try to do our best to pay it no attention,” he said. “They’ve leveled up every single performance.”