RCHS senior goes world class
Coffee performing with the Bronco Brass and Stampede Drum Line outside of Invesco Field at Mile High before a Bronco football game.
Article by Kathy Dunker with photos courtesy of Holly Coffee
Rock Canyon High School (RCHS) senior Rebecca Coffee, resident of HOA1, is quite a busy teenager. In addition to being part of the RCHS Marching Band, and first chair with the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestra, Coffee went on tour this summer with the world class Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. As mom, Holly Coffee, says, “I don’t know how she gets her homework done!”
Coffee, a trumpet player, attended the Drums Along the Rockies show with the RCHS marching band, which is where she first saw the Blue Knights perform. As she looked on she pledged, “I’m going to do that one day!” And she was right. After auditioning last November and attending one Blue Knights camp per month from November until April, Coffee was offered a contract with the Blue Knights for their summer tour.
Being part of the Blue Knights was no easy task. Intense rehearsals began on May 23, and lasted for 12 hours per day seven days per week until June 20. Once the group of roughly 150 musicians from age 16 to 21 years old was ready to hit the road, they traveled together in a caravan of buses, slept on gym floors, and spent 14 hours a day rehearsing for performances.
The corps participated in 38 shows, traveled to 40 different states and competed from May 24 until August 15. Coffee said, “Nothing can compare to playing in a horn line, 75 people strong, in front of 2,000 audience members!”
The Coffee family on the road with the Blue Knights summer tour. Pictured from left to right: brother, Nate; mom, Holly; Rebecca; dad, Steve.
The Blue Knights made it to the finals and finished 11 out of 23 world class corps which is quite an accomplishment. Surprisingly, Coffee found it difficult when the tour ended. The group had formed tight friendships with each other from their all-consuming time together on the road. Coffee looks forward to participating with the Blue Knights again next summer so she can once again be part of what she calls “something so awesome!”
After the summer tour, Coffee plans to attend University of Northern Colorado in the Fall of 2011 where she will study music education and performance. As an offshoot to the Blue Knights, Coffee also exhibits her talents with the newly formed Bronco Brass, playing with the Stampede Drum Line during Denver Bronco football games. To learn more about the Blue Knights, visit their website at www.bknights.org.
One of many intense rehearsals for the Blue Knight Drum and Bugle Corps.
