Former Edina Band Member Now Marching at Rose Bowl

On Saturday the 17th, the UCLA Bruins fell to the Texas Longhorns with a final score of 49-20. It was a rough game of football. But 2011 Edina graduate, former Homecoming queen, and EHS Band alumna Christina Kosters wasn’t too concerned. She was on the field of the famed Rose Bowl for another reason: to march with the UCLA Bruin Marching Band.  

And for her first time marching with the nearly 200-member university band, there was an upside to the loss. 

"Everyone says the band wins when the football team doesn’t," Kosters said. "We’re the entertainment, then."

Kosters is sure the school spirit and concern for the football team’s success will come with time, but the freshman Edina native said the new school affiliation takes a little adjustment. For now, the experience is a little bittersweet, reminding her of her time with the Edina High School Band.

“It was kind of sad because there’s so much school spirit at Edina,” Kosters said. “It’s definitely weird to be cheering for a different team.”

Kosters also said she missed Minnesota’s cooler fall. 

Overall, though, Kosters is honored and excited to be continuing her musical pursuits at UCLA, where she studies music and plays alto saxophone with the marching band. At a school of 25,000 students, Kosters said she would feel overwhelmed if not for the tight-knit community of band members—one similarity she can draw between her current educational institute and her alma mater. 

Her mother, Mary Kosters, can draw a straight line from Christina’s high school pursuits to where she is now. 

“Her involvement with the Edina Marching Band had a direct effect on Christina wanting to march at UCLA and the Rose Bowl,” Mary Kosters said.

Christina Kosters said much the same. In fact, she credits the music program at Edina completely for her continued studies in the field. 

“That’s the only reason I’m studying music," Kosters said. "I had so much fun and I learned so much in the music program at Edina, I wasn’t ready to be done. I definitely wouldn’t be studying music if I hadn’t had such a great musical experience at Edina.” 

There were some key players behind that great musical experience. In particular, Kosters noted Paul Kile, Edina High School’s band director. To Kile, it comes as no surprise that Kosters is continuing her musical education with high ambitions. 

“Christina is one of those students that comes along once in a great while, who has a desire to know as much as she can about all that she pursues and music is no exception," Kile said. "She had an opportunity at Edina to be involved in so many high level musical activities and she approached each activity with a wide eyed wonderment that fed her passion for music. She was a credit to our program and I know she will be at UCLA as well.”  

Kosters was drum major for the Edina Marching Band her senior year, and she plans to audition for the same role at UCLA, enjoying the leadership and the challenge. 

Kosters is studying music education at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and considering a double major in neuroscience or psychobiology for a possible career in music therapy. Then again, Kosters said, the marching band at Edina High School was such a positive experience for her, she wouldn’t mind teaching that as well.