Under the direction of Joel Carlson, the GRAMMY® award winning Mira Costa Bands are part of the comprehensive Music Department at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California. We have been hailed by professional critics and adjudicators alike for fantastic performances of advanced high school, collegiate and professional repertoire in concerts, festivals and competitions from coast to coast.
Our program consists of three concert ensembles, two levels of jazz bands, three athletic teams, a parade team and much more! All around our program creates award winning ensembles and teams. Marching Band & Colorguard earned 1st place at the Southern California Regional Championships for the Western Band Association in 2021. Our MCHS Parade Team was invited to Hawaii in March of 2023 to perform at the Honolulu Grand Festival Parade. The Concert & Jazz Ensembles have most recently been invited to perform at the 2022 National Concert Band Invitational in Washington D.C. and won top honors bringing home the President’s Cup!
From the Concert Ensembles to Jazz Band, Marching Band & Colorguard, Parade Team, Winterguard and Indoor Drumline – the Mira Costa Bands provide a breadth of opportunity for students to perform at the highest level of excellence and have lots of fun too!
The Band Boosters rely on parent volunteers, who are the behind-the-scenes heroes of our band/guard programs. Our fundraisers, including candy sales at football games, a booth at the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair each October, and others help fund our stellar program. We couldn’t do it without you!
The Mira Costa High School Music Department is a welcoming community on a vibrant campus and we hope you take advantage of all that we have to offer.
Any questions please feel free to reach out to costabandguardboosters@gmail.
Varsity performed its show, The Twilight Zone, at the West Coast Winterguard competition held February 1 at Portola HS. With a score of 58.10, the team bested a pool of top ensembles from the greater San Diego Region. The following weekend, Indoor Drumline premiered Between Here and Forever at the…
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Led by Marching Band Director d’Lainey Forrester, the parade team invites Costa students as well as rising freshmen from MBMS and Hermosa Valley to experience the thrill of marching with the 2024-25 Marching Band and Colorguard team. As it has for the last several years, Disneyland marked the joyous culmination…
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In concert band news, sophomore Iggy Im (flute/piccolo) earned selection to both All-State and All-Southern honor band ensembles for 2025. She recently traveled to the California All State Music Educators Conference (CASMEC) in Sacramento and was highlighted in piccolo features throughout a rousing Symphonic Band program. In February, she is…
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First, Marching Band & Colorguard traveled to the WBA Grand Championships in Fresno, earning the 2nd highest score in Music Ensemble out of 36 groups in Saturday’s Class Championships, ultimately finishing 5th in Sunday’s finale–Costa’s highest placement at WBA Grand Championships ever. The team, then, marched in two parades to…
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This past Saturday, MCHS Indoor Drumline completed their season by competing at the SCPA Championship Finals at CSU-San Bernardino, making it their 3rd consecutive Finals appearance. Only the top 12 teams get to compete at finals so it is an honor to be there. They finished the season in 9th…
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The Varsity Winter Guard had a successful and fun weekend competing in the WGI Power Regional in Palm Desert. They advanced to the second day of competition and placed 11 out of 25 teams in their division. The Varsity team is also competing in the WGASC at Monrovia High School. …
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