Santiago High School’s Performing Arts program has had a great semester of performances and competitions, especially our band. Our large and well-known band had a season full of competitions and performances including: LA county fair, 5 home football game field shows, 4 band reviews, a magical performance at Disneyland, and a sound-sational Winter Concert.
Our band went to their first competition of the year, only 2 months into their marching season. On September 23rd, Santiago High School’s marching band went to La county Fair to compete against other schools for a $10,000 prize. The band played the famous pop hit ”Thriller” by Michael Jackson. Although our band didn’t make finals to gain a chance at the $10,000, they performed amazingly.
This talented group of young musicians also supported our football team at 5 of our home games. Our spectacular musical crew entertained the crowds during halftime with their 3 tunes: Hawaii Five-O, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, and Wipeout to commemorate their upcoming trip to Hawaii in the spring. Our band didn’t perform all 5 of these games alone, they had all of the middle school bands join them on October 30th, and gave them a taste of the band life.
Our band didn’t stop at a competition and field shows though, they competed against other schools at four different band reviews. The song played at all four events was “Army Of The Nile” composed by Kenneth J Alford and edited by Fredrick Fennel. The four band reviews were hosted at the “Tustin Tiller Days” parade, Martin Luther King High School, Chino High School, and Arcadia High School. Our band came home with sweepstakes (scoring 92.7), 3rd place Auxiliary (scoring 80.8), and 2nd place for Military Drum Major (scoring 79 with a 5 point penalty). They also scored 2nd for band (with a score of 93.2) and 3rd place for Drum Major (scoring 82.5) at King, and 4th for band and Auxiliary at Chino. At their final band review of the season, our band battled, and was sadly defeated placing 6th as a band (scoring 93.7), 7th for auxiliary (scoring 87.15) and 13th for Drum Major (scoring 85.3). Although our band didn’t place, they continued to play, by marching alongside Diamond Bar.
Only a few days after an intense competition, our band took a trip to Disneyland to kick off the holiday season. There, they played “Thriller” and “Christmas Parade Sequence”, which the features: “Joy To The World”, “Good King Wenceslas”, and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”.
Just a few weeks ago, our band put on a festive Winter Concert to share the holiday spirit. Some holiday tunes featured were: “At The Feast of Stephen”, “Oh What Fun!”, and many others.
The year isn’t over yet, so don’t worry about a season without music! Band will continue play thanks to the band directors Mr. Parish and Mr. Dudek.