By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora High Band & Colorguard Wins Class 1A Best In Class
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — The Mount Dora Marching Ensemble delivered a standout performance over the weekend, debuting their 2024 show, Cinderella: 1920, and winning top honors at the Tarpon Springs Marching Band Competition.
In a day marked by 25 mph winds with higher gusts, the ensemble overcame challenging conditions to win Class 1A, earning a score of 74.2, significantly outpacing the second-place band’s score of 67.35. Such a wide margin is uncommon in band competitions, where top contenders are typically within a point of each other.
Mount Dora’s dedication has been evident. The students and staff have been working a minimum of 10 hours a week in rehearsals, attending three summer band camps, and multiple day camps—all while maintaining their academic standing, home responsibilities, and for some, part-time jobs. This season, they also had to contend with two hurricanes, adding further difficulty to their preparation. However they pulled it off and we are so proud of them!!
(A big congratulations to this program for winning class 1A. Well done.)
Their efforts were rewarded with distinctions in several categories, including:
- Best in Class 1A Brass
- Best in Class 1A Woodwinds
- Best in Class 1A Solo, featuring Ella’s clarinet performance
- Best in Class 1A General Effect
- Best in Class 1A Visual
- Best in Class 1A Percussion
Notably, the band’s percussion section ranked third overall, while the entire ensemble placed fifth overall in the competition.
“The time, dedication, and hard work absolutely paid off,” said Director Mr. Sharpe, expressing pride in the ensemble’s growth and achievement. “The HME is continuing to improve every rehearsal, and they are finding their spark.”
The Mount Dora Marching Ensemble’s success reflects the collective effort of students, staff, and the support of parents and volunteers. We are very proud of them and their continued success. There’s a ton of behind the scenes work that goes into all of this. Well done to everyone involved!
Photo Credit – Tonya Hudson
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
