Granite Hills band students Lauraina Reyes, Jenna Baranek, Victoria Irwin, and Taylor Means pose for picture during second period.

Band and Orchestra perform Spring Concert!
Ryan Gibson | 05/12/00 | Fine Arts

The sounds of horns and strings blared throughout the Porterville Auditorium on May 9 where the Granite Hills High School Concert Band performed their anual spring concert along with the Granite Hills Jazz Band. They also performed with the Porterville Combined Orchestra, the MPGS, and the Pioneer Middle School Orchestras. The Concert was scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. and end at 9:00 p.m.

While the audience of family members, friends, and avid listeners began to fill the seats, the MPGS, (Monache, Porterville, Granite, & Strathmore) opened with some music to start off the night.

The Pioneer Beginning Orchestra was the first of the bands to play. Their first song was the “Banana Boat” song, which led to the theme from the London symphony. The next song was “Morning,” a song from Peer Gynt, a Norwegian play written by Henrik Isben. The fourth piece of music that they played was “ Chester” by W. Billings. The final piece of music was “Buffalo Gals” by Cool White. These young prominent musicians have only been playing their instruments for three months and already they are attacking such wonderful pieces and playing them well.

The next to perform was the Pioneer Advanced Orchestra. The violinists began their performance with the song “Pictures at an Exhibition” by M. Mussorgsky, arranged by L. Clark; followed by “Sleepers Wake,” a song written by J.S. Bach and arranged by J Caponegro. The third song to be played was the “Entrance of Queen of Sheba,” written by G.F. Handel and arranged by H.B. Fisher. The fourth and final song for the Pioneer advanced orchestra was “Marcato for String Orchestra” written by V. Nelhlybel.

Granite Hills Jazz Band was the next band to play after the Pioneer Advanced Orchestra. They opened with “Area 51,” a fast paced rock piece with a saxophone solo by Kaitlyn Jetter and a trombone solo by Eric Bartlett. The next piece was “Blues Dues.” a slow pace, “dirty” song. Solos were done by Matthew Walker on the guitar, Kaitlyn Jetter on the saxophone, Natalie Guerrero on the tenor saxophone and Austin Jones on the trumpet. The third song was “Take the “A” Train,” a well known piece recognized throughout jazz culture. Susanna Efseaf, choir teacher at Granite Hills High school, contributed to the piece by singing a vocalist solo. The fourth piece of music was “Azule;” a slow ballad, with a Flugelhorn solo by Austin Jones. The final piece of music for the Granite Hills Jazz Band was “Panic Button,” another fast paced rock piece with solos by Austin Jones playing the trumpet and Natalie Guerrero playing the tenor saxophone.

The Porterville Combined High School Orchestra was the next to play. They started off with a crowd favorite, “Jupiter” from The Planets. After, they played “Tango D’ Amour,” a Latin piece. The third song was “Emperor Waltz,” a symbolic piece of music as a ‘toast of friendship.’ The fourth piece of music was “Brook Green Suite” by G. Holst. The final piece of music was “Seven Scottish Airs;” which is a very patriotic song, written by G. Holst.

Band students, Steven Bounchareune and Natalie Guerrero radiate with happiness during their free period of rehearsal.

“The orchestra sounded wonderful!” stated senior band member, Sal Madrigal, after hearing the orchestra play.

The final musical group to play was the Granite Hills High School Concert Band. They started off with a heroic piece of music called “Flourish for Winds” written by Gary Fagan. This fast paced song had numerous horn licks and a counter melody between the lower voices and the woodwinds. The next song to be played was “Blue Ridge Saga;” an adventures piece of music with an exciting melody played by the clarinets. Then the next musical arrangement was “Ballad for Peace;” which is a slow melody that the trumpets maintain throughout the song. For fans of Danny Elfman, this next piece would be one to capture the attention of your ears. It is named “Music for a Darkened Theater,” written by Danny Elfman. It has scores from films like “Tales from the Crypt,” “The Nightmare before Christmas,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Beetlejuice,” and “Spider-Man.” The final piece of music to be played was “America Exultant;” a song that starts with a trumpet fanfare and consists of numerous sharps and flats.


“It was the best we’ve played!” said Mr. Rexelle with a big smile. “The band let me lead them through and let me be really expressive. I felt like we were playing the music and not just reading it off the page. I thought it was a phenomenal job!”

“I thought it was really a wonderful expression of music tonight with the orchestra and the band.” stated Dale Anderson; a former band director at Monache High School. “As a musician myself; I was so pleased at how well everybody was prepared with the music. And as an audience member I got to sit back and enjoy it.”

The Granite Hills High School Concert Band also performed in Fullerton, California. They arrived at their hotel on May 1 along with the Porterville Combined Orchestra.

They performed at the Forum Music Festival and received a silver rating. William “Billy” Atkinson received an award in musicianship for his bell play.

The band played the songs Blue Ridge Saga, Ballad for Peace and America Exultant.

The Porterville Combined Orchestra received a gold rating.

The Granite Hills High School Band would like to thank all of their sponsors and parents. They hope too see you next year during football season.