Band to perform at Loara Review
by Kaitlyn Tang & Giovanny Martinez
Spartan Band and Drill Team will compete at Loara High School for the 22nd Annual Loara Band Review and Field Show Tournament and are striving to win the first place title.
The event will be held at the Glover Stadium at Anaheim, with participating school bands such as El Rancho, La Serna, Downey High, Montebello, Diamond Bar and others. The entire event will start at 11 a.m. and awards for the participants will be handed out by 4 p.m.
Bands from different schools will participate in this event and compete against each other through their performance and music. Spartan Band will be executing the story of the Mad Hatter from the book, Alice in Wonderland, for the Band Review, and will be playing “Chimes of Liberty” by Edwin Frank Godwin for the parade.
“We have been participating in this event ever since I had started working here, which was about 12 years ago,” said Antonio Castro, Spartan Band director. “We have been using these performances to prepare and practice for our upcoming parade at Arcadia.”
After devoting several hours of the day, before and after school, to practices in preparation for the parade ever since the band’s summer preseason, Castro is optimistic for the eventful outcomes of the performance.
“The band is fairly strong musically and visually, however there are still some obstacles that we have to overcome. Despite this, I am sure that the band will rise to the occasion and we will earn the place that we all deserve,” said Castro.
First place is what is being strived for from the event, as well as the monetary prize that is gained by earning the Sweepstakes title, which will be used to repair old instruments, such as the drums, and pay for transportation fees.
Currently being tied in third place and being one point away from first place of their division, some of the band and colorguard members may be feeling nervous due to the pressure of the event.
“At times I am not confident with our performance because I feel as if everyone is nervous. Nervousness is contagious and I believe that helping each other before the performance would probably ease the nerves and increase our performance skills, we all work best when we are relaxed on focused on the task,” said Marajade Lopez, Junior.
Those who are anticipating the competition feel confident in their performance abilities and express that confidence during practices through their music.
“I am pretty confident in the skills of our band, and I am positive that we will be successful when the time comes to it, which will be during our work that we have been doing for a long time, and our hard work will pay off,” said Arturo Aranda, freshman.
The band’s next performance will be held Nov. 11 for the Baldwin Park Parade. The following performance, which will be held on the same day, which is the Big Orange Classic that will be taking place at Riverside Community College.