Alpha-Omega Concert

ΑΩ

Photo © Nate Phillips

Last night was the Alpha Omega concert, in which both high school band and orchestra and fifth grade band played. Nick Reyes, who recently moved from PG to Monterey, received special permission from Mr. Hoffman to continue playing in the PG band until this concert. Nate came along with his dSLR and 70-200mm lens and took photos of the concert. The concert began at seven with the orchestra, and on their first piece the oboes, bassoons, and french horns accompanied them. After intermission we listened to the fifth grade band and then got on, playing Sevens, Sleep, Armenian Dances, and Raging Machines. The concert went really great and the music was some of the most fun to play that we've had.

See the entire album at Nate's Blog:
http://natephillips.wordpress.com/people/alpha-omega-concert-2009/

RE: CCS Honor Band 2009

From the Cedar Street Times, regarding our CCS concert:

CCS Honor Band 2009

The Central Coast Section honor band this year was at Salinas High School. Our first rehearsal was Thursday evening. When we got there, it was pouring rain and nearly dark outside. We got to the SHS band room almost an hour early, but finally the rehearsal started. Our conductor was Paul Bambach, a clarinetist and conductor from UC Santa Barbara. For the past couple of weeks, we have been rehearsing the CCS music since PG makes up over a third of the band. The first piece was Fanfare for a New Era, in honor of Barack Obama's presidency, followed by Scenes from the Louvre, a multi-movement piece based on music of the period when the Louvre was being constructed. Cloudburst, the third one, was a conceptual one imitating a rainstorm, with finger-snapping and bass drum "thunder" rolls. Last was Nitro, a frenetic fast piece with a lot of complicated fingering. We got back from Thursday's rehearsal after 10pm.

Friday was the biggest rehearsal, lasting all day. It was nice to take a break from regular classes and get to miss a day. We met at 8am and once again took the bus over. I sat in the back of the bus with some sophomores also in cross country (Alec Guertin, Matthew Shonman, Leif Swenson, Peter Sujan), as well as some seniors and juniors (Michael Yanoska, Kristen Sanchez, Emma Nuss, Cory Jones)*. Michael Y. brought an iPod dock and both on the way up and back played songs on the speakers which we sang along to (at least, the ones I knew—these included Coldplay's Viva la Vida and a couple Beatles songs including Help!). On the ride back we sang Viva la Vida switching all the L's and R's—a surprisingly difficult endeavor.

This was the most wearying rehearsal, lasting for over six hours (with an hour lunch break). For lunch, we all walked across the street where there was a Subway, Foster Freeze, Jack in the Box, and other places. I went to Subway, along with a couple other. I went back and ate outside the band room with Michael Y. and Enoch Matsumura (concert master; 1^st chair clarinetist). Later on a few others arrived, including Nick Reyes and Leif and Alec.

Today (Saturday) was the day of the concert. We met at the school once again in the morning planning for the bus to leave at eight. We waited outside in the slight rain until about 8:40 for the bus to come (the one we had yesterday had a bulge in the fuel line or something like that). Finally we were on our way, but arrived late: about a half hour into the rehearsal. Rather than rehearsing at Salinas High like previous days, we did it at the Sherwood Hall where the concert would be.

We ran through all the pieces and made some minor changes, and then took a lunch break. Coincidentally, there was yet another Subway across from Sherwood Hall, so almost all of us went there and got subs. Then we went back into the lobby and ate. I sat with Nick, Cory and Emma, who were listening/singing to music on the iPod dock. Then we changed and got ready for the concert. First we watched the choir and orchestra perform, and then performed our songs. During Cloudburst, Cory played the bass drum behind the audience and Michael on the stage, creating a surround-sound thunder effect. After the performance, we headed back on the bus, although many people got rides with their parents instead. We stopped at In-and-Out and got food such as shakes, and then continued on the way back with the usual singing in the bus.

Michael and Kristen don In-and-Out hats.

The Winter Concert

Matthew Shonman tuning his trombone

This past Thursday night was our winter concert, featuring the chorus and orchestra as well as the band. Since the middle school auditorium, the usual venue, is under construction, we had to hold the concert at the high school multi, which was much smaller. Band went first, and we played quite a few songs: A Festival Prelude, O Holy Night, Procession of Nobles, A Chanukah Celebration, and A Christmas Festival. After our section came the chorus, singing numerous Christmas and Hannukah classics, and then the intermission.

Jane Rudy singing in Chorus

At intermission, Matthew and I helped Michael Yanoska carry the large timpani around the building in the dark to the band room since it was too big to use the inside route. After putting away our instruments, we went to the snack bar in the back where some middle-schoolers (including Michelle Watkins and Emma Teering) led by Tijmen's mom were selling snacks.

Following the intermission was the orchestra's performance. They first did a suite by Edvard Grieg featuring the band's percussion section and some other classical pieces, and then performed a really neat tango piece involving improvisation.

Michael Yanoska Drum Captain

Kristen Sanchez Senior Flutist

The Percussion Section Brent Smith, Matthew Johnson, Taylor Jones, Michael Yanoska, Leif Swenson, Andy Bieman, Cory Jones (front)

Thanks to Oliver Bunten for the photos.

Holiday Parade of Lights

Last night we played in Pacific Grove's annual Holiday Parade of Lights for marching band. This was the first event in which we wore the formal uniforms with the big brass buttons, suspenders, and feather plumes. Being a clarinetist, I had to cut off the fingertips of the gloves because air leaks from the holes in the clarinet when you try to play with gloves. We donned the uniforms and got in line around 5 and left to march down a half hour later.

We began by marching in a single file line with drum cadences from the school to Pine Avenue. We rested here and watched the North Monterey County Marching Band, also in the parade, practice. Finally, we got into the block formation. Mr. Hoffman moved me around the formation quite a few times, and I eventually ended up in the back next to Kristen Sanchez and some other flutists, with Riley a couple of places away and most of the other clarinetists in the next row. The parade began and we marched down Fountain Avenue, over on Lighthouse, and then back to the school up Congress. We played Santa's Parade, a conglomerate of Joy to the World, Jingle Bells, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. We repeated the song about 10 times, with a drum cadence with horn swings in between each repeat.

Heading back up to the school on Congress, we began going faster and faster and everyone was yelling to Marcy, the drum major, to slow down. Eventually we lost all order and everyone started singing. The tempo clicks stopped and we pretty much just walked back the rest of the way.

A map of the marching path from Google Maps:

Pacific Grove vs. King City

Last night was the last of the football games that we would play at for band. We met at the school at about six, and I was almost late because the computer's clock was off. About a half hour later, we arrived at MPC, by which time it had already become completely dark. We warmed up and went out onto the track, while the JV football team was still playing. The wait took a really long time; what seemed like over a half hour. Finally, it was time to march out and play the national anthem and P.G. Will Shine.

During the first and second quarters, we were completely demolishing King City. At halftime we came down and played three songs: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, Messin' With the Kid, and Mr. Pitiful. Following this was the senior salute, in which all of the seniors in the band did some sort of salute, dance, or other such thing. Roy Chan, a previous scout of Troop 90, probably had the funniest one, in which he got the trombones to play a background while he sang Can't Touch This. When these were done, we played a fourth song, Rescue Me, and then left for free time during third quarter.

A video of us playing Messin' With the Kid taken by Michael Yanoska:


While the halftime show was in progress, a huge blanket of fog began pouring into the stadium, and it felt like it dropped ten degrees. Within ten minutes, you couldn't even see across the field to the King City bleachers. Our music was fogging up so fast it was sometimes hard to read and the pages would stick together.

At the immediate start of fourth quarter we began playing Tequila from the stands. By this time, King City had caught up quite a bit, and soon the score evened out to a tie of 29 to 29. A referee came over and made some comment to Mr. Hoffman that we couldn't play while they were kicking off because it gave PG an "unfair advantage." The game ended with the tie still in place. We didn't get back into town until after eleven.

This was probably one of the most fun games. The only problems were the fact that we had to wear jackets which made it way too hot, and also the abscence of our mascot Billy Breaker.

Homecoming 2008

This last week was homecoming week. Tuesday through Thursday were spirit days which included dress-ups for "Nerd Day," "Robot Day," and "Neon Day." Riley won the school wide Rubik's Cube competition on Nerd Day. On Thursday we had a cross country meet at Toro Park which was very hot and tiring, and I got about the same time as the last Toro meet. Yesterday concluded the week with a pep rally in the gym with music, guest speakers, competitions, and a really random video of a hypnotized Billy Breaker holding all the football players hostage.

After school yesterday was the homecoming parade which we played in for band. We marched down to Pine Street in a straight line while the percussion section played drum cadences and the rest of us did a horn swing with our instruments. Once we got to Pine, we got into the block formation and played alternating school fight songs: PG Will Shine, Go Big Red, and Red and Gold, broken up by a cadence in between each song. We went down to Lighthouse Avenue and then back up to school on Congress.

Today was the homecoming football game against Robert Louis Stevenson School. For the first time, we actually got to stay for the whole game instead of leaving after 3^rd quarter. Before it started, I went over to say hi to Tijmen, who was selling candy and pom-poms with other people from the middle school band. During the game we played the usual Hey Song, Go Big Red, Iron Man, and the other usual stands music. For the halftime show, we played Beethoven's Fifth, Roll Over Beethoven, which the dance team danced to, and Escorpión. Before the second quarter began again, they announced the homecoming king and queen. Our team won 34 to 6 against the Stevenson Pirates, continuing our league winning streak.

October Break (Q1 Summary)

After countless weeks without any breaks, October break is finally here.
Here's a summary of how this last quarter has been...

The first quarter so far has been quite difficult compared to middle school, especially with Honors classes and such. Band has been enjoyable although marching is not my favorite. Playing at football games has been nice, especially the night games. Geometry is pretty good, with the normal math class routine observed since 7^th grade, revolving around homework and notes. The homework is not that much and very easy, which is a nice change since in past years about ¾ of my homework has been math. This year, that ¾ is from the Honors English and History classes. English is quite enjoyable during class, and my 1^st quarter base group, Ellis Smith, Jane Rudy, and Mikey Cho, completely owned our group assignments. However, both classes have a ton of homework which often involves worksheets of 10-or-so questions that each have to be answered in a well-developed paragraph without the use of is, am, are, was, were, because, or numerous other words that I previously would use all the time. The History tests are probably the hardest tests I have ever taken.

Biology is very fun; we do many labs and in-class discussions and periodically have "dialogs" where we talk about things like politics. We also go on "nature walks" around the school observing things like deer and acorns. Spanish has a lot of hands-on activities such as the art project we recently did. We just finished swimming in P.E. and have moved on to Ultimate Frisbee, among other things.

An "alternate" picture of our mascot I've seen around the school periodically:

Pacific Grove vs. Aptos High School

The next football game that we played at for band was versus Aptos High. Unlike the last game, it was in the day time, which was not nearly as nice as the previous night game. It was a very hot day at MPC, our temporary home stadium, in the upper seventies. Billy Breaker, our mascot, didn't show up unfortunately.

We did just about the same routine as last time, playing stands music for the first three quarters and then leaving. We once again also did the halftime show, in collaboration with the dance team. We played Hold On I'm Comin', Bend Me Shape Me (which the dance team danced to), and School's Out. Unfortunately when we left our team was losing 22 to zero, so it was pretty much impossible that the Breakers could have won.

The First Football Game

Last night was the first football game for Pacific Grove this year, versus Ann Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill. We all went as part of band so we could play stands music and also at halftime. Since the PGHS stadium is being redone, our home stadium for this year is at the Monterey Peninsula College.

We met at the school at 5:30 and got our informal band uniforms, consisting of a polo shirt and a sweatshirt with black pants and shoes. Then we piled on the school bus and drove over to MPC. When we got there, everything was chaotic and Marcy Schaeffer, the drum major, reenacted the parting of the Red Sea to organize us into lines. After warming up and playing the national anthem and school fight song PG Will Shine, we entered the stadium and the first thing we saw was someone dressed up as our mascot, Billy Breaker, who skipped around the track and danced during the whole first half of the game. Every once in a while he would go around the audience in the front row and high-five everyone.

Our band took the spot in the bleachers with some assorted blips of music to play when something good happened in the game, such as Iron Man, Go Big Red, The Hey Song and many others. I have no clue how the game is played, so it was hard to know when we were supposed to play something. It was difficult because we were all extremely tightly packed in the stands, and we were required to wear the sweatshirts on top of the polo shirts, which was really hot even at 9 at night.

At halftime, we marched down onto the track and played three songs in the concert arc formation: Gimme Some Lovin', Green Onions, and Birdland. We followed this with PG Will Shine and then marched back into the stands. We had third quarter off to mill around and talk to spectators. During fourth quarter we mingled with the band from the other school. Unfortunately, we had to leave before the game was over because of transportation issues.

When we got back to the school, everyone was informed that there was going to be a band party at the home of Kristen Sanchez so we all walked down from the school. They had assorted party foods, including chips and guacamole, and a really good punch mixture of ginger ale, orange creme soda, and orange sherbet. The house had a Wii with Guitar Hero so we all crowded in the living room and played that for the remainder of the party. Tyler Chisman challenged Riley to Through the Fire and Flames, the hardest song on the game. Tyler did it on Hard and Riley on Expert. Unfortunately, it was so packed that I had to leave before I got a chance to play.

High School Begins

Today was the first day of school at Pacific Grove High. The first stop was to put all my books and backpack into my locker. A couple of nights ago was orientation, where we got our books, locker assignments, and school pictures. Since my locker was bright pink (a lot of people's were), we came in the next day and repainted it dark green, which apparently is allowed. The lockers are slightly smaller than the middle school ones, but not too bad.

When we arrived, we were ushered into the gym where they were playing Welcome to the Jungle on repeat. We were put into groups with "Breaker Buddies," two juniors or seniors who were assigned to show us around. My group had a few people I know, including Casey Reeves and Callum Gilchrist. We did some icebreaker activities and then went to a rally back in the gym. This included some very random games. First of all was an awkward sort of activity (volunteers only, luckily) where the object was to pop a balloon by hugging with the balloon in-between. The next was something that looked like a pie-eating contest. One person from each grade came up (ours was Cameron Barretto) and used their mouth to find a stick of gum in a tray of flour, then blow a bubble with it. Finally, even more awkward than the first was a variation on musical chairs that involved the girls eating cookies out of the boy's mouth. I'm glad I wasn't chosen for that.

After these activities was lunchtime, where we got free pizza and cheetos. I sat in the outdoor amphitheater with Riley, Michael, Matthew, and Oliver. Following lunch was a short introduction to each class, with little over 15 minutes for each class. My first period is band, with Mr. Hoffman my 5^th grade band teacher who first taught me clarinet. We didn't play, but just talked about complications this year with budget problems. Hopefully we will begin playing by next week.

My second period (homeroom) is the honors history class, American Civilization, with Ms. Griffiths. She seemed nice, but very strict at the same time. Next was Geometry, taught by Ms. Chupka. I got to be in the same class as Riley this period, which was nice. P.E. with Mr. Buller was fourth period, and fifth is Spanish 2, taught by Señora Buller (the P.E. instructor's wife). I got my same Spanish nickname as last year, Guillermo. Most of the same people as last year's Spanish 1 were in this class, and I was seated next to Emily Long. The entire period, Sra. Buller spoke only Spanish, which at first was confusing as I was out of practice. However, it seems like a very effective way to teach the class.

For my 6^th period I had Mr. Bliss for Biology. He was very nice and turned out to be a world traveler and an environmentalist. Tomorrow and Friday we will be watching Dead Poet's Society in class (the phrase Carpe Diem from the movie is plastered above his door). I also got to be with Riley in this class. My final class of the day is honors English I, taught by Mrs. Selfridge. English is usually one of my least favorite classes, but I'll keep my mind open. After all, I was surprised last year that history (with Mr. Gamble) turned out to be my favorite class.

After school, I went to the first official cross country practice, which I am doing with Michael. We have three courses that we do: a loop through the Rip Van Winkle Open Space (our home course for meets), a run down by Sunset Avenue and along the old railroad track, and a third from the school through Pebble Beach and looping around the old quarry near my house. Today we did the quarry loop, which takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. I got home around 4:15 to do a small amount of homework from Ms. Griffiths and to get a couple of additional school supplies.

A New Clarinet

For the past couple of weeks, I have had no clarinet to practice on because Ms. Priest collected them at the end of the year. Today I went to the high school and got a new clarinet from Mr. Hoffman, the high school band director. It is a Yamaha, which isn't nearly as nice as my old wooden Buffet. However, it's still nice to have a clarinet again.

The Last Day of Jazz Band

Being the last day of after-school jazz, we had a party and Michael brought the popular game Guitar Hero III and the PS2 to play on. Last week, his mom challenged Ms. Priest to a face-off in the game, so today they played two songs. Ms. Priest won on the Rolling Stones' Paint It, Black on Medium, but Darla took the victory in Hard mode on Barracuda by Heart. Afterwards, we had free time to eat chips and play the game. I versed Riley on Paint It, Black on Medium while Riley played on Expert mode (even though he had never played the song, he owns Guitar Hero II). I beat him because of this advantage, but I refused to try it on Expert, being that I have only played the game about 10 times.

Thank You Ms. Priest

For the last three years, I've had Ms. Priest as my band director, and it has been my favorite class period almost the entire time. As an end-of-the-year "thank you" I made her a card in Photoshop, and also made more of the famous "Lemon Delight Cookies" to give to her in a gift bag.

The rat on the card is a reference to the brown rat that we spotted in the auditorium a couple of weeks ago. It has become very well known across the school, especially after the teacher trivia at the Talent Show.

The Spring Concert

Last night was the last band concert of the year, and it went very well. This is the concert where all the groups at the school do 2-4 songs, usually ones we have practiced almost all year. However, this year we decided to change the songs we did at the last minute. As well as For Our Heroes, a song from the festival, we played two new songs: The Great Locomotive Chase and In a Gentle Rain. The latter mainly just featured soloists with a "rain" background by snapping, and Locomotive was a depiction of a civil war train chase, as it said in the description. In jazz, we played Bruiser's Blues and Woodchopper's Ball, also decided on at the last minute.

For the finale of the concert, a group of us who have been coming in at lunch about 2 times a week performed The Empire Strikes Back Medley, a collection of Star Wars songs from Episode V. Unfortunately, Riley, who plays the 1^st clarinet part with me, was absent so I had to cover it on my own.

RE: Music In The Parks

Huzzah! We got a superior rating in both concert band and jazz band, and both groups also got the "best of" award.

Music In The Parks

Today was the latest music competition, Music In The Parks at Milpitas High School. At 7 in the morning, we met at the middle school and split up onto three buses. Oliver brought his DS and played Pokémon Pearl on the ride.

We were running a bit late so when we arrived, we went straight on stage and played For Our Heroes and The Last Ride of the Pony Express. This time, we didn't mess up on the half tempo part, so hopefully we got a better score. Since our first chair trumpet Tyler was absent, Tijmen had to cover the first part.

After packing up our instruments, we watched the school orchestra play Capriccio Italian and Furiant in the gym, where we would later play in jazz band. After waiting around a bit longer and warming up in the back room, we played Count Basie's Jumpin' at the Woodside for Jazz Band, as well as our usual What Is Hip?.

Later on, most of the people went to Great America, to return at 9:30 PM, but I didn't want to because I don't really care for theme parks. I got a ride home with Michael, and we watched a South Park spoof on World of Warcraft on his iPod Touch and listened to music. Yann also had to leave early because he had a part in the school play, which is airing tonight.

The awards ceremony is at 6 this evening, so I'll post the results when I can.

District Music Festival

Last night was yet another concert: the District Music Festival; featuring music groups from the Pacific Grove Middle School and High School, as well as 5^th grade. We played the usual songs...What Is Hip? in jazz band and The Last Ride of the Pony Express in concert band. I thought we played Pony Express the best that we have ever performed it, but What Is Hip? turned out better at open house night. The only problem was some confusion of when to go to the practice rooms, come on stage, etc., because Ms. Priest gave pretty confusing instructions. It was interesting to see how much the groups varied from 5^th grade to high school.

Music Competition

I just returned from our latest band performance: the Central Coast Section Large Ensemble Festival at Hartnell College in Salinas. We left around 9 this morning with the band and orchestra both packed on a single school bus because the second bus couldn't start. People sang random songs on the way up, like on all school field trips.

When we got there, we first listened to the school orchestra play, as well as some other groups from across the Central Coast. Everyone played three pieces. Finally, we went in the back room and tuned/warmed up, before performing. We played three pieces: Athenian Festival, a Greek folk style song with a trumpet and sax solo; For Our Heroes, a slower song in which we (the clarinets) got the melody for most of it; and The Last Ride of the Pony Express, a fast-paced, very fun song. I got to be 3^rd chair clarinet because Aaron, normally second chair, played percussion instead.

Both the band and orchestra got a superior rating: band with 90% and orchestra with 92½%.

Honor Jazz Band Concert

Last night was the honor jazz band concert at the Golden State Theatre. A bunch of people I know were in it, including Tijmen and Yann. Yann had a solo on the song Sidewinder. Great job, Tijmen, Yann, and everyone else in it!




Saxophones
Matt Pardue - alto, Carmel Middle School
HaYoung Youn - alto, Pacific Grove Middle School
Ben Bransford - tenor, Carmel Middle School
Isaiah Bindel - tenor, Pacific Grove Middle School
Tijmen Teering - baritone, Pacific Grove Middle School

Trombones
Yann Brown, Pacific Grove Middle School
Teddy Calderon, Carmel Middle School
Julian Thompson, Pacific Grove Middle School
Marshall Murphy (bass), Pacific Grove Middle School

Trumpets
Michael Cho, Pacific Grove Middle School
Kevin Zischke, San Benancio Middle School
Estaban Sanchez, Santa Catalina Middle School
Joe Kochevar, Carmel Middle School
Brayden Tollefson, Palma Middle School

Rhythm
Chance Breaux - piano, King Middle School
Amos Kim - bass, Pacific Grove Middle School
Nathan Hardoin - bass, San Benancio Middle School
Tom Kochevar - guitar, Carmel Middle School
Taylor Jones - drums, Pacific Grove Middle School
Patrick Murphy - drums, Carmel Middle School
Olivia Sedoryk - vocals, Walter Colton Middle School