TKMEA Honor Band’s Stellar Performance with Gary Gilroy

On February 8th, 2025 the TKMEA Honor Band performance was held at Porterville High School. This concert is performed by kids all around Tulare County and this year the students had the honor to perform under the direction of esteemed composer and Music Director of Fresno State University, Gary Gilroy. 

By: Aiden Lupian

The performance was very well received by both the audience and the performers themselves. 

Rocco Gutierrez, ‘26, who plays the bari saxophone says, “The performance was good. It was fun performing a new song in front of everyone. It’s like a once in a lifetime thing. I don’t think I’ll ever feel that again.” 

Gutierrez has enjoyed being a part of his section, and feels as bittersweet as he knows he won’t get to perform with these same people again, but he does feel that his section was super fun to be around. 

Percussionist Ella Chan, ‘26, also thinks the performance was a success, she explains that since she was in percussion she got access to the piece written by Gilroy early and the winds put it together in a day. Chan says, “I’m really impressed that the winds were able to pick it up in a day.” 

Being able to perform under Gary Gilroy was an amazing experience for the performers. Gary Gilroy is a musician, composer, and educator, and an American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) award winner. With more than 200 publications to his name, he is the Band Director at Fresno State University. 

As of this year, Gilroy has announced his retirement, so this concert was very memorable for those who took part. Scarlett Boyle, ‘27, who plays the flute, says, “It was really inspiring because he has so much experience directing.”  

Anne Wu, ‘26, who is a percussionist, feels the same, saying, “It was pretty cool, since he was a percussionist. He’s really into percussion and making sure everything gets played correctly.” 

Chan follows by saying, “He’s very knowledgeable, and even though he does lean a little more towards percussion, he’s very passionate about feeling the music and I think that’s a fun aspect of him.” 

The rehearsal process was a bit tedious, as the ensemble didn’t get to meet often, so it was up to each person to make sure they got their parts down beforeing meeting with the ensemble. 

Trumpet player Hunter Wallace, ‘25, says, “The only part about [the rehearsals] was the length. We went for hours upon hours, and got maybe like a ten minute break. As an ensemble it was just trying to work with new people and figure out how everyone plays so you can play together.”

Gutierrez says, “As an individual [rehearsal] was really really boring, because my part was easy and Gilroy had to rehearse the harder parts. As an ensemble, I feel like the rehearsals were really productive, because we only had two days to work on it.“

The ensemble performed four tunes that day, one of them being written by Gilroy himself. They performed ‘Life Eternal’, ‘Evocation of the Spirit’, ‘Legend of the Sword’, and ‘Heavy Metal Rock Stars.’ Gilroy composed ‘Heavy Metal Rock Stars’ himself. 

The performers each have their own favorites of the tunes. Boyle says, “My favorite was ‘Life Eternal,‘ because I thought I was pretty. It had a slow part and a fast part. It kind of had everything.” 

Wu says, “I think my favorite was the ‘Legend of the Sword, ’because I had the bells and xylophone part. It was really fun, it had a lot of notes and it was fast.” 

This experience helped these musicians make everlasting memories and boosted their skills. It’s one that won’t be forgotten.

With an experience like this, it’s bound to leave an impact on all those who were involved. These musicians feel like this experience has boosted their skills. Wallace says, “Honestly, it just helped me with endurance and it let me play longer.” 

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