Courtesy photo
Berthoud High School Spartans Marching Band Color Guard members, Ella Giles (left) and Ryley Gordon, in their alien makeup and uniforms, ready to perform the band’s 2023 show, “We Come in Peace,” which tells the story of an alien invasion. The band heads to state finals on Oct. 30.

By Terry Georgia
The Surveyor

The Berthoud High School (BHS)marching band has qualified for state championships for the second year in a row. Last year they earned second place in the state’s class 2A division.
The state championships will be held on Oct. 30 in Pueblo at CSU-Pueblo’s football stadium. The competition is a semi-finals and finals format, so the band hopes to come home with a big win for the school.
On Oct. 16, BHS took first place in the Class 2A competition at the State Qualifying Northern Regional competition, beating Eaton, University Schools and Weld Central High School. Their score at that competition seated them in fourth place for the state semi-finals against The Classical Academy, Elizabeth and Delta High School.
“We are hopeful that we’ll rise in placement as we had a big technical malfunction at regionals.” said BHS Band and Choir Director Sean Hedding, “Our vocal microphone didn’t work, so we performed “Fly Me to the Moon” (a la Sinatra) without a singer. We hope that fixing the malfunction in addition to some other show improvements we’ve made over the last two weeks will help push us upward. It’s an extremely close and competitive year with all bands around the state putting together high-quality performances.”
Hedding added that making the regional finals (top 4) is a huge honor in and of itself.
BHS will perform their semi-finals program at 11:45 a.m. on Monday in Pueblo. The top four bands from that contest will go on to finals the same day, weather permitting.
Each year the band creates a unique and creative ‘story’ that unfolds through music, marching and dance. This year’s show is titled “We Come in Peace.”
“Our program this year,” describes Hedding, “is the whimsical story of an alien invasion that starts with crop circles, has an alien abduction and physical examination (via dancing) on board the alien spaceship, and then the actual invasion with music that was inspired by the Blue Man Group. Our musical selections include “Also sprach Zarathustra” which was made famous in the film, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears.”
The band’s final performance of the show in Berthoud will be at the home football game against Steamboat Springs on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m.
“It is likely the football team will make the playoffs and host a home playoff game.” said Hedding, but added that, “The Marching Band will be at those games but will not perform at halftime [because] the band students deserve their final performance to be at their state championship.”