The Class That Changed Culture: Band Seniors Reflect on Historic School Year

By Aiden Lupian

As the school year ends, it’s time for many to take a look back on the year and reflect. The same goes for the band students. This year has been historic for the Redwood High School Band. From placing 4th at  WBA 4A State Championships for marching season, to making open class for winter drums the band has truly had a good year. The class of ‘23 has had quite a year and they now have some time to reflect on their 4 years in the Redwood Music Department.  

The year started with a new marching show, that being “Aquarium” , the band spent months performing and perfecting this show and it really paid off all season. They placed 1st on several occasions and at Championships in southern California they placed 4th.

Each year a new drum major is picked and this year the band had two, those being America Vazquez-Lara ‘23 and Pricila Cenobio ‘23 who led the band throughout its very successful season. 

When asked about how it felt to lead the band this year Vazquez-Lara says, “Being able to lead the band was such a huge opportunity.

Because I didn’t go to a camp or had any proper drum major training, I had to go out of my way to teach myself these things in order to lead the band to success. “ she adds on saying, “All the stress and time I put into shaping myself to become a leader paid off and it helped me realize how far I’ve come as a musician, performer, and especially as a person.” 

Assistant drum major Pricila Cenobio feels similar saying, “It was one of the best experiences ever. America And I became so close; almost like sisters. It was one of those connections that you had to know the other person’s traits, and the way they conducted themselves physically to understand the way she was conducting.

It was definitely a challenge at first, but we were both able to help each other out and grow together. I could have never imagined another person to conduct alongside someone other than America.”

After the marching season concluded, the band moved into the concert season, where they performed more wind composed music and/or orchestral arrangements. The band spent some time learning new pieces and then went to California Music Educators Association (CMEA) festivals and performed their pieces, The advanced band earned a unanimous superior and the wind ensemble also earned a unanimous superior both places being the highest score to receive. 

When asked about the concert band’s success, trumpet section leader Patrick Fritz ‘23 says, “ This year, we took 1st place at every festival that we went to. We exceeded expectations for this year. I am proud of everyone’s hard work.” 

As for percussion they started their winter season and their concert season after marching season. This year was a huge change for the percussion for their winter season, this year they advanced up a division , that being open class.

Making open class had been a long time goal for the percussion and they had quite the season. While placing 5th on most occasions, the percussionists never gave up hope and worked extremely hard, and it paid off as they placed 3rd at their South Valley Winter Arts Association (SVWAA) competition and they placed 1st at their Sierra Cup Classic Championship.

The percussion leaders Matthew Spalding ‘23 and Adam Jeffries ‘23 are extremely proud of their sections and how far they have come. 

Spalding says, “I could not be any more grateful for the hard work and determination the percussion section has had in order to get where they are.

Jeffries has similar thoughts saying, “I’ve enjoyed seeing the group transform to a skilled and serious group dedicated to becoming good musicians.” 

The percussion section has had a rapid growth in both players and success these last few years and its leaders are really happy that they got to watch the section come from nothing to one of the strongest parts of the band. When asked how it felt to watch the section through the four years, Spalding says, “Watching the percussion section grow through the years has truly been a blessing.

It really showed me that it doesn’t matter who you are, if you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything.”  

The seniors have come a long way since they started as freshman and the Band Director Jordan Ray enjoyed seeing the class of ‘23 grow as both musicians and people. He says, “ I always have a lot of mixed emotions watching the kids grow, really proud of the kids.

Where they started and where they ended is a huge amount of growth, so really happy to see their trajectory stay really consistent all year. I’m really proud of their hard work” Ray says.

The last four years have created so many great memories for the seniors. Raul Arredondo ‘23 is the clarinet section leader and when asked about his favorite band memory he says, “When we took home Visalia Band Review and we won it. It was amazing. For the first time, Redwood takes Visalia.”

 Cenobio says, “ My most favorite memory is the first day of the 2022 WBA Grand Championships. It was our senior night, as well as us finding out that we placed fourth in our 4A category. It was definitely a night full of roller coaster emotions.”

Throughout the year each section had time to grow not only closer to each other but as musicians as well, many of the section leaders are proud of their section’s growth. 

The trombone/baritone section leader Jaden Bullock ‘23 says, “ I would say I’m very happy with the growth, it was also expected , the kids in the section work hard , so the only way was up.” 

When asked how he felt about his section’s growth Arredondo says, “It’s a huge deal. Middle school kids look up to us and the impact on what I’ve done here at Redwood. And I’m excited for the future of Redwood.” 

Fritz says, “ I am really pleased with my section’s growth this year. Everyone in my section has improved dramatically since the beginning of the year. I am proud of everyone’s hard work.” 

Band has done a lot for the seniors and the band has a special place in all their hearts. GG Garcia the saxophone section leader says, “Band is incredibly important to me, it always has been.

Both aspects, marching and concert, have positives that outweigh the negatives (if there even are any). It serves as my outlet for creativity and gives me the satisfaction of working towards something greater than myself.”

Bullock says, “ Throughout my years, Mr. Ray has been a great teacher, great mentor, I’m going to miss Mr. Ray and my friends. Everyone I started with in the beginning, we started as little freshmen and we were like “one day we’ll be those seniors”. Everyone in the Redwood band is just close, sometimes we have our struggles or our little arguments here and there, but at the end of the day we just all come back and share a common goal.”

 Mr. Ray is extremely proud of all the achievements made by the band this year, he says, “I’m really proud of all the kids, I think everybody worked really hard. I think their hard work paid off in lots of different ways, both in the marching season, concert season, and our winter programs. Everybody had a great year.” 

And when asked what message he had for the class of ‘23 Mr. Ray says, “Just keep doing it. Music is one of those experiences and activities you can do for your whole life and I encourage kids to do it their entire lives and keep it in their life”.

This year has really been a huge one for the Redwood band and the seniors couldn’t be more proud of the impact they were able to make before leaving the Redwood Arts Department and going off to achieve great feats.

Tags: arts and entertainment, band, class of 2023, marching band, rangers, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, rhs, senior class