eileenchow Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:54 pmNo, it is not the Rose Parade. It’s not as big as Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade either. However, Arcadia’s very own Arcadia Festival of Bands (AFOB) is not your typical high school parade performance. Featuring 36(?) visiting bands from all over southern California and a field show that displays the impressive skills AHS’ band and colorguard, AFOB definitely classifies in the category of “extraordinary”. Sophomore colorguard member Vaishnavi Balendiran expects “our AHS band and colorguard to give a stellar performance, no different than in the past, impressing all those attending, including visitors from other schools.”
On the morning of Nov. 21, AHS band and colorguard will march down Baldwin Ave at 9:00 am(Or 8:45?), starting off this year’s 56th annual AFOB performance. AFOB is “a band review, meaning a parade, as well as a field show tournament” with “[AHS], First Ave, Foothills and Dana Middle school [as] the hosts of the parade and [AHS] is the host of the Field Tournament,” said senior colorguard captain(?) Katherine Chin. “It's a major Southern Californian event in which bands from all over the region come to compete,” said sophomore colorguard member Johanna Gunawan. AFOB’s theme for this year is “Saluting Community Service” to bestow thanks upon the first responders and community members who have helped make Arcadia a better place. AFOB marks the last official band performance of the year. “Since it’s the last competition the band will be having this year, and the last competition for me forever as an Arcadian...I hope we'll do extra well,” states senior band member Katie Lee.
Being the hosts of AFOB, AHS band and colorguard initiated the start of the performance line-up with their performance of the “Rifle Regiment” by John Philip Sousa. Band and colorguard are then followed by performances of Arcadia’s three middle schools, First Ave, Dana, and Foothills Middle School, respectively. Numerous high school bands perform afterwards, “including Rancho Bernardo and Riverside King, two of our main competitors in the season,” informed sophomore band member Alison Fu. Following the band review will be the percussion performance and parade award ceremony at AHS’ Salter Stadium. The field show tournament starts in the evening at Citrus College in Glendora. For their field show performance, band followed their Egyptian theme that was based off of a National Geographic feature. “We’re playing the Opener, Floodplain / Spices, Perfumes, and Toxins, and the Finale. The Opener and Floodplain are written by Sam Cardon; Spices, Perfumes, Toxins is composed by Avner Dorman [and] The Finale is an arrangement of excerpts from Symphony No. 7 Op. 60 by Dmitri Shostakovich,” Cynthia Tong, sophomore band member revealed. For the field show, colorguard “perform[s] dance routines, as well as spin, toss, and perform routines with flags, rifles and sabers, all the while moving according to the music and the drill all over the football field,” said Vaishnavi.
Both band and colorguard has been toiling endlessly to make their routines flawless. Band has been practicing all season for AFOB through with regular rehearsal schedule that consists of morning practice, on the football field or the marching through the streets, from 7:40am until the end of 1st period. Mondays are dedicated to woodwind sectionals, Tuesdays for Brass; Wednesday night rehearsals on Wednesdays and every so often, band has parade block rehearsals on Thursdays/ Fridays. Additionally, the band directors or section leaders frequently call for extra practices. Says sophomore band member Jenny Earnest about band practice “The schedule can get pretty rigorous, but band really teaches kids time management.” Every Tuesday from 5-9 pm, colorguard works on their dance routines and choreography for the field show. Wednesdays are allotted for drill formations with band from 5:45-9 pm. “For AFOB, colorguard is definitely cleaning our routines and working hard to perfect them in order to show everyone our progress this season and to present to everyone what Arcadia is all about,” said Katherine
“I'm looking forward to performing in front of the thousands of people at Citrus College. Our audiences are usually not nearly as large so it's always exciting to see more support in the stands,” quoted senior band member Mandy Chan. Everyone is looking forward to performing in AFOB; junior band member Kane Li agrees with Mandy, saying she is “looking forward to...the field show competition. A lot of our rival bands come to AFOB so it's fun to watch their field shows. Band teacher, Mr. Tom Landes is also excited “to see[ing] some memorable performance by some of the finest bands in Southern California.” Senior band member Katie Lee is delighted about the fact that “the alumnae come to visit us [during AFOB]! This is one of the only competitions that I know alumnae come back to because it’s right at home.” Freshmen band member Davina Nguyen exclaims how excited she is to performing in AFOB “because when [I was] in middle school, [I] used to always admire the high school marching band, and now that [I am] a part of it, it just seems unreal.” Fellow freshmen band member Ryan Tsao feels the same way, saying how “its a great honor to be able to represent Arcadia Marching Band during AFOB, and getting the chance to show the people of Arcadia, exactly what Arcadia Marching Band has been doing the past few months.”
AFOB promises to be a sight to behold this year. “I expect this year to be much more rewarding since we put in so much effort for this year’s show...everyone is looking forward to doing their best,” said junior band member Angela Liu. “I'm really proud of this band, not only for its large size, but also because we're so dedicated to excellence,” says Cynthia. With band and colorguard performances and appearances from numerous other high schools, AFOB will be a parade of grand proportions. As Jenny so rightfully puts it, “This year's AFOB is going to be super epic!”
On the morning of Nov. 21, AHS band and colorguard will march down Baldwin Ave at 9:00 am(Or 8:45?), starting off this year’s 56th annual AFOB performance. AFOB is “a band review, meaning a parade, as well as a field show tournament” with “[AHS], First Ave, Foothills and Dana Middle school [as] the hosts of the parade and [AHS] is the host of the Field Tournament,” said senior colorguard captain(?) Katherine Chin. “It's a major Southern Californian event in which bands from all over the region come to compete,” said sophomore colorguard member Johanna Gunawan. AFOB’s theme for this year is “Saluting Community Service” to bestow thanks upon the first responders and community members who have helped make Arcadia a better place. AFOB marks the last official band performance of the year. “Since it’s the last competition the band will be having this year, and the last competition for me forever as an Arcadian...I hope we'll do extra well,” states senior band member Katie Lee.
Being the hosts of AFOB, AHS band and colorguard initiated the start of the performance line-up with their performance of the “Rifle Regiment” by John Philip Sousa. Band and colorguard are then followed by performances of Arcadia’s three middle schools, First Ave, Dana, and Foothills Middle School, respectively. Numerous high school bands perform afterwards, “including Rancho Bernardo and Riverside King, two of our main competitors in the season,” informed sophomore band member Alison Fu. Following the band review will be the percussion performance and parade award ceremony at AHS’ Salter Stadium. The field show tournament starts in the evening at Citrus College in Glendora. For their field show performance, band followed their Egyptian theme that was based off of a National Geographic feature. “We’re playing the Opener, Floodplain / Spices, Perfumes, and Toxins, and the Finale. The Opener and Floodplain are written by Sam Cardon; Spices, Perfumes, Toxins is composed by Avner Dorman [and] The Finale is an arrangement of excerpts from Symphony No. 7 Op. 60 by Dmitri Shostakovich,” Cynthia Tong, sophomore band member revealed. For the field show, colorguard “perform[s] dance routines, as well as spin, toss, and perform routines with flags, rifles and sabers, all the while moving according to the music and the drill all over the football field,” said Vaishnavi.
Both band and colorguard has been toiling endlessly to make their routines flawless. Band has been practicing all season for AFOB through with regular rehearsal schedule that consists of morning practice, on the football field or the marching through the streets, from 7:40am until the end of 1st period. Mondays are dedicated to woodwind sectionals, Tuesdays for Brass; Wednesday night rehearsals on Wednesdays and every so often, band has parade block rehearsals on Thursdays/ Fridays. Additionally, the band directors or section leaders frequently call for extra practices. Says sophomore band member Jenny Earnest about band practice “The schedule can get pretty rigorous, but band really teaches kids time management.” Every Tuesday from 5-9 pm, colorguard works on their dance routines and choreography for the field show. Wednesdays are allotted for drill formations with band from 5:45-9 pm. “For AFOB, colorguard is definitely cleaning our routines and working hard to perfect them in order to show everyone our progress this season and to present to everyone what Arcadia is all about,” said Katherine
“I'm looking forward to performing in front of the thousands of people at Citrus College. Our audiences are usually not nearly as large so it's always exciting to see more support in the stands,” quoted senior band member Mandy Chan. Everyone is looking forward to performing in AFOB; junior band member Kane Li agrees with Mandy, saying she is “looking forward to...the field show competition. A lot of our rival bands come to AFOB so it's fun to watch their field shows. Band teacher, Mr. Tom Landes is also excited “to see[ing] some memorable performance by some of the finest bands in Southern California.” Senior band member Katie Lee is delighted about the fact that “the alumnae come to visit us [during AFOB]! This is one of the only competitions that I know alumnae come back to because it’s right at home.” Freshmen band member Davina Nguyen exclaims how excited she is to performing in AFOB “because when [I was] in middle school, [I] used to always admire the high school marching band, and now that [I am] a part of it, it just seems unreal.” Fellow freshmen band member Ryan Tsao feels the same way, saying how “its a great honor to be able to represent Arcadia Marching Band during AFOB, and getting the chance to show the people of Arcadia, exactly what Arcadia Marching Band has been doing the past few months.”
AFOB promises to be a sight to behold this year. “I expect this year to be much more rewarding since we put in so much effort for this year’s show...everyone is looking forward to doing their best,” said junior band member Angela Liu. “I'm really proud of this band, not only for its large size, but also because we're so dedicated to excellence,” says Cynthia. With band and colorguard performances and appearances from numerous other high schools, AFOB will be a parade of grand proportions. As Jenny so rightfully puts it, “This year's AFOB is going to be super epic!”
] visiting bands from all over southern California, and a field show that displays the impressive skills AHS’ band and colorguard [always use proper name when first mentioning PA group on campus, and capitalize~], AFOB definitely classifies itself in the category of “extraordinary”. [period INSIDE end quote mark!!] Sophomore colorguard member Vaishnavi Balendiran expects quotes are always in the past tense. give a quick explanation why you have a quote of someone BEFORE the experience, and try to find someone who's willing to give you a quote in the past tense, haha.] “our AHS band and colorguard to give a stellar performance, no different than in the past, impressing all those attending, [you can't change the diction, but you can change the punctuation-- instead of doing all commas, try to vary up with hyphens, colons etc. in quotes so that it at least looks more interesting.