Trumpet melodies and trombone glissandos flare through the band hall. In the back row, almost hidden behind thirty pounds of brass, senior Andrew Perry plays the notes that hold the entire ensemble together from the very bottom.

Perry will attend the University of North Texas in the fall to major in music composition. He composed and debuted multiple pieces, plays the tuba in band and joined the choir chamber ensemble this year. Perry will also perform with the Boston Crusaders, a Drum Corps International group, this summer.

“I wouldn’t be in band, be the person I am, without my support system,” Perry said. “I honestly don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have band. That’s just my everything right now.”

Perry represented the band as its Second to None recipient, voted on by peers based on who best exemplifies Matthew Vandegrift’s qualities. He also won the “Hype Hero” superlative at the recent band banquet.

“I look up to Andrew because not only is he a good person musically, but he is also a really fun person to be around,” freshman Charley Van said. “He inspires me a lot through his leadership and his passion for music, but also the way he welcomed me into the band this year.”

After spending time as a member of the Concert Band I, the Symphonic Band and the Wind Ensemble, Perry became a tuba section leader his junior year. This year, he served as a brass drill instructor.

“Andrew is one of the most energetic, positive and kindest humans I’ve come into contact with,” band director Tristan Murray said. “It’s kind of hard not to gravitate toward somebody who always has a smile on their face and is so genuinely interested in you. As for his music, the music that he writes has a catchiness to it and is very accessible — you listen to it, and you like to listen to it early on.”

Perry first debuted “Til Death, We Dance” with the tuba and euphonium chamber ensemble in March 2024. However, he began composing his freshman year after senior Harrison Stater urged him to write a piece for their slogan project in a freshman-year business class.

“At first, I was like ‘dude, what’s wrong with you?’ like, that’s so weird,” Perry said. “But after we started, I started liking it and found it was actually really cool. When I debuted my sophomore year, I thought, ‘I think I want to continue doing this, hopefully, for the rest of my life.’”

Various ensembles performed twelve of Perry’s pieces, and he is currently writing a new piece for a competition from the Association of Concert Bands due in July. In contrast with his recent successes, his time prior to high school “was the lowest point of [his] life” after moving to Austin the summer before middle school from Las Vegas, following his parents’ divorce.

“I didn’t like anything, I didn’t want to do anything, I didn’t want to be anywhere,” Perry said. “I hated band, especially because it was virtual doing Covid. Whenever I got picked on, I always pretended to have a glitch and left the Zoom. I think that’s when I wanted to quit band the most.”

Perry’s mom gave him the ultimatum of choosing either band or choir as an elective, and he reluctantly picked to play the tuba. However, his will for band kindled one day when eighth-grade Perry sat in for a sixth grade tuba class during his lunch period.

“For one of the kids in there, Landon Velazquez, that was the main reason why he joined band in high school — because I was just there,” Perry said. “Now, he loves band, I love band, and that’s why I decided to keep continuing. As I actually started getting into classes and learning with Ms. Gonzales, I fell in love, but that sixth grade class was a major turning point for me.”

According to Perry, Four Points Middle School band director Jessica Gonzales instructed him during middle school and instilled his love for classical music. Besides Gonzales, another element that influenced his decision to continue studying music is his love for film scores and video game music.

“To write for a movie or TV show or video game, that would be my absolute dream,” Perry said. “I also chose to go to UNT because not only is it a fantastic music school, but it’s a great school, and I also have a lot of people that I know, especially from DCI, who are also going there.”

After he attended the November camp, the Boston Crusaders contracted Perry to play the contrabass bugle, or a marching tuba, for the upcoming season. The audition consisted of several fundamentals and pieces of their show music.

“I love DCI because it’s such a fun art form,” Perry said. “I’m most excited to put it all together because the show is so cool, and we get to do so many wacky things. I fit right into the community, so it was just so nice to go into a different community that isn’t this one and feel like I fit in again.”

The corps will practice for several weeks before touring the country to perform, starting in July at Boston. Perry will move into the camp in Vermont on May 31 to begin his DCI experience, just two days after graduation.

“I love and adore the band community here with all my life because this community is what’s grown me into the person I am now,” Perry said. “This is my everything. I’m going to miss these people, but I think it’s just a part of life — moving on, moving forward to bigger and brighter things.”

This story was originally published on Vandegrift Voice on May 15, 2026.