Marching Warriors win first place

The Fallbrook High School marching band went to their first competition of the season at Ayala High School in Chino Hills on Saturday, October 13, and placed first in their class in Music Performance.

The students, under the directorship of Ms. Amy Kaw, have been working diligently memorizing their music and it paid off. They were excited to receive their award of a sousaphone case, which will be displayed with their trophy collection as the band is not currently in possession of a sousaphone.

Competitions are sponsored by the Western Band Association (WBA) and each band is classed according to size. Fallbrook High School has 73 members and is classed AA. The smallest band in the WBA has 34 members and the largest has 265 members.

Competition judging is done on a point basis by class in five areas of expertise: Music Performance, Marching Technique, Music and Visual Performance, Percussion (drumline) and Auxiliary (color guard). The judging also includes good feedback on how to improve.

The WBA believes that competition is a means to encourage and reward creativity, artistry and excellence in design and performance while providing a vehicle that will educate all students in such a way that they will grow to understand and evolve to the greatest level of their potential. Competition’s intent is to encourage and reward the training that augments the development of quality musical and visual skills.

Fallbrook band students are looking forward to their next competition, which will be in Costa Mesa on October 20.

Those interested in donating instruments or supporting the program in any way may contact Band Booster President James De Boer at (760) 805-2640 or Derrick Edgar at (760) 695-8653 or visit http://www.fallbrookhighschoolband.com. All donations are tax-deductible.