The school’s music department received unanimous superior ratings across all categories in the Southern California School Wind Ensemble and Orchestra Association Festival (SCSBOA) at El Camino High School on March 5 and 6, Gold ratings at the Forum Music Festival at Cerritos College on March 8 and Outstanding Musicianship for the percussion section and individual Anthony Kim (12).
The festival at El Camino High School was the largest SCSBOA festival, so it was split over three days, and the school’s wind ensemble performed three pieces in level four on March 5, and Orchestra two pieces in level five on March 6. As a result of superior ratings both groups will advance to regionals on April 21 in Anaheim.
Since music department director Amy Gelb started teaching in 2004, Orchestra received unanimous superior ratings every year. This was the first year Wind Ensemble competed after COVID-19 due to a smaller class size in previous years.
Along with their three pieces, wind ensemble also took a sight reading test, where they receive 4 minutes to look at a piece without playing, and they are judged on their performance. Orchestra was exempted from sight reading because they were featured in the evening showcase.
“It’s a really neat process, but the kids are usually most scared about that because it’s unpredictable,” Gelb said. “I’m not allowed to speak when we’re conducting. Once we go, if everything completely falls apart, I have to keep going and try to communicate and get them back on track, but they did really well.”
Due to the sight reading test’s unpredictability, Wind Ensemble practices by imitating the scenario beforehand. According to Sophia Song (9), percussion section leader, “it was really easy, and [they] did a really good job on it.”
“Percussion is the loudest section in the whole band, and only with a few measures of playing it can change the whole atmosphere of the entire song,” Song said. “Every time I play, I feel nervous, but I’m trying to be calm, and I try to be more focused on the conductor.”
On March 8, both Wind Ensemble and Orchestra attended the Forum Music Festival at Cerritos College in Anaheim, where they performed the same pieces and both groups received gold ratings. The Wind Ensemble’s percussion section and Kim received Outstanding Musicianship Awards, which were awarded to 10 musicians.
“I felt really proud of my section members,” Song said. “Everyone worked very hard, and I think this award shows all the effort we put in. I’m very thankful and happy that we received it.”
As percussion section leader, Song’s tasks include distributing instruments and delegating parts. One of Song’s favorite pieces was “Groovitude” because it was her first time playing the drumset with the entire band.
“As a section, the biggest challenge was teamwork,” Song said. “Everyone had different ideas and ways of doing things, and I think sometimes that showed in our performances before, but through this festival, we learned how to communicate better and work together as a one team.”
The Forum Music Festival was optional, and “more of a fun trip” as they went to Disneyland afterwards. As a result, parts of the music department did not attend, which made it a “a little bit of a challenge,” according to Gelb.
“Some people had to move up, so they got to kind of experience leadership,” Gelb said. “It was neat to see how we can take some of the people out, but still be strong.”
Outstanding Musicianship is typically awarded to students who play a solo, but Kim did not play one. Still, “they recognized his leadership,” according to Gelb.
“It’s great that the organization recognizes specific musicians that they see as outstanding,” Kim said. “Also, it’s great that we’re consistently getting these superior awards, and it shows how strong we are.”
Following the Forum Music Festival, they went to Disneyland for “team bonding” according to Gelb, where they stayed until midnight.
“I was so tired after the festival because I was very nervous since it was a new environment for us and I had a lot more things to take care of,” Song said. “But after everything went well and we received the award, I felt all my hard work paid off. Even though I was really exhausted, it was still fun to spend time with my friends at Disneyland.”
