The Tiger Band is transitioning under new leadership.

In his first weeks, band director Matt Koutney wants to push the limits of his students.

“I took the first month or so to get to know the students and what the situation was,” Koutney said. “My goal right now is to up the potential of  everyone here and kind of push their limits of what they think they can do.”

Senior drum major Amanda Lopes feels like Koutney is fully committing to the program.

“He is a great guy overall and he is trying his best to make us successful this year,” Lopes said. “There is definitely a lot of change which we are still getting used to.”

The band, under previous director Mark Toffelmier, practiced Monday nights but now meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school.

“At first we found it difficult because he said he would keep Monday as rehearsal nights,” Lopes said. “But then later he explained that he is trying to get ARC and Sierra College to work with us.”

According to Lopes, the change in practice schedule resulted in some students dropping the class.

“We definitely had some people drop the class and miss a rehearsal or two,” Lopes said. “But for the most part we try and get people to work together and come for the rehearsals.”

Both Koutney and Lopes believe that they are still adjusting to the swapping of the band directors.

“Mark had been here for a long time so anything I do here there is always some skepticism,” Koutney said. “But I think that the students have started to trust me and they know that I always have their best interest at heart.”

RHS senior Travis Mays feels like he adjusted to the new director a little faster than his fellow band members.

“I think that some people are not very open to change but I gave him a chance and I liked him,” Mays said. “We can’t blame Koutney for the dismissal of Toffelmier so I feel like the band should overlook the fact that it is Koutney’s fault.”

Koutney has pushed practice over everything with the students.

“Marching band is a discipline and if I’ve changed anything, it’s been increasing the amount of time that we spend practicing our craft,” Koutney said. “To be skilled at something, one must spend many, many hours practicing that skill and marching band isn’t any different and I’m trying to teach these kids that having a solid work ethic will help them to persevere in situations later in life when perhaps they feel overwhelmed.”

Mays feels that Koutney being more involved with RHS administration will improve the program overall.

“I have been in band since freshmen year and we have been playing the same songs under Toffelmier for a long time,” Mays said. “He just got us ten new music sheets which is amazing because we don’t usually get a lot of music and that’s partly how we got the money to purchase it because he was involved with the admin.”

According to Mays, there have been instructors helping the band apart from Koutney.

“I feel like he has been getting a lot of help from a bunch of other instructors,” Mays said. “We had one of them helping us with the music, another one was helping us with our drills and formation we are going to do.”

According to Koutney, the practices will prepare the band for a multitude of competitions this season.

“We are actually getting ready for the club petition season,” Koutney said. “So October we have three weekends of fieldtrip competitions so we are in full swing on the field pretty much everyday for those.”

However, senior Olivia Clouser is disappointed that the band has been restricted to competitions within the district.

“I know that we are restricted to some band competitions since Koutney became the new director,” Clouser said. “We used to go down to Disneyland but the band is now only allowed to play within the district.”

After Toffelmier introduced Beginning Piano last semester, Koutney started teaching the class and believes that it is a fun and different experience.

“As for piano, Mark and I never really spoke about his vision,” Koutney said. “ But I have taught piano in the past and it is a pretty fun and unique experience.”

According to Koutney, the second level of piano starts this fall semester.

“We have two sections of Beginning Piano this semester that are full,” Koutney said. “Next semester we will be adding a section of  Intermediate Piano.”

Koutney feels that both the marching band and piano will allow students to take their first steps in the learning process.

“Marching band and piano is a discipline and takes years of practice to become skilled and these classes allow students to take those first steps in the right direction of learning their way around a keyboard,” Koutney said.

Even though Koutney is still adjusting to the band, he is excited to see where the band program will go under him.

“I love being here at Roseville and it has been great so far and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish here,” Koutney said.