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Busy March Plays Out For RHS Musicians
RHS Band flags pix.jpg
The RHS Flag and Rifle team gets its start each year, as shown here from 2018, on the football field. When springtime comes, their eyes turn toward the competitions held in the Central Valley like those of the past week. News File Photo

Musicians in the Riverbank High School bands were busy over the past week, with the concert bands performing on Tuesday and the Winter Guard competing in the Central Valley Guard and Percussion Circuit Championships over the weekend.

First, there was the Spring Concert, on March 26, held in the Bruin gym on the RHS campus.

The concert “went extremely well,” according to band director Joey Aguilar.

“This was the first concert for the 2019 Beginner Band,” he said. “They are a much larger group than usual. Normally, we have about 10 students in the beginner band class, but this year we have 28 students.”

For a performing ensemble coming together for the first time, the students did a great job, according to Aguilar.

“They had good tone and no one got lost playing the music,” he noted.

The Percussion Ensemble played their program called ‘Fiesta en la Playa’ and they really got the crowd going with their beach themed show, he added.

“The Advanced Band played a rather difficult program that really pushed the students,” Aguilar explained. “All the music was at a high level and the students really rose to the occasion, playing their music incredibly well.”

Many of the audience members, he said, came down from the bleachers following the program “to tell me and the students how much they really enjoyed the concert.”

 

Weekend Competitions

The weekend before the concert there was an event, according to Aguilar, with Winter Guard taking third place and the Percussion Ensemble taking first place honors at the earlier competition.

Then this past weekend, at James Enochs High School in Modesto, it was the Central Valley Guard and Percussion Championships on Saturday, March 30.

Although the official results had not been posted on the CVGPC website by deadline for The News, Aguilar indicated the results his squad achieved, completing the indoor season with a solid showing.

Before the competition, he said he was expecting the Guard to come in at fourth place and hoping the Percussion Ensemble would finish at second place.

The CVGPC website shows there were 54 schools from the area competing in the event, including junior highs and middle school units.

Looking ahead a bit, Director Aguilar said the next event on their schedule comes May 9, 2019, which will be a district wide concert.

“This will be the ‘Night of the Fine Arts’ Concert,” he said. “Both elementary schools, Mesa Verde and California Avenue, as well as Cardozo Middle School, and the Riverbank High School bands will be playing.”