Three Coast students will represent Mississippi in national marching band

Only three high school students in Mississippi made the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band. And they’re all from the Coast.

Judges with the National Association for Music Education selected Biloxi High School senior Madison Hansen, Ocean Springs High School senior Maxwell Warren and West Harrison High School senior Kedra Gray to the 2017 U.S. Army All-American Marching Band.

Hansen plays clarinet, Warren plays trumpet and Gray plays piccolo.

The three competed against hundreds of other students to earn their spots. Students are nominated by their band director in the fall of their junior year and are notified of acceptance by NAfME in late July. Students submitted video of themselves playing their instruments earlier this year. Officials judged the contestants on performance ability, marching skill, attention to detail, ability to follow directions and maturity.

The three students will perform with 123 other top-performing marching band members from across the nation. They’ll receive an all expenses-paid trip to San Antonio, where they’ll play at halftime of the 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. The bowl features the nation’s top high school senior football players.

The band director of Ocean Springs High School is Mohamad Schuman. Biloxi High School’s band director is Travis Coakley and Timothy Garrett is band director of West Harrison High School.

“I am thrilled that Madison has received this honor, but I am hardly surprised. She is an All-American musician but more importantly she is an All-American person. Madison exemplifies the kind of student this honor band looks for in its members and she will be a great representative of Biloxi High School and the State of Mississippi,” Coakley said.

During bowl week, the band members receive instruction from top collegiate, high school and drum and bugle corps instructors from across the country as well as educational sessions with members of the U.S. Army Field Band.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Three Coast students will represent Mississippi in national marching band."