Every fall, bands and their auxiliary units from all over Southern California compete in dozens of band reviews (parades) and field show tournaments (halftime shows). Judges appointed by the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association critique the competitors on marching, visual presence, and etiquette. The scores typically rise through the course of the season.

So Crescenta Valley High School Music Director Mathew Schick is very happy with his Falcon Marching Band’s performance at the very beginning of the season. At the sixth annual Riverside King Band Review on Saturday, Oct. 16, the band earned the highest score it has ever achieved in the first competition of a season. The band’s marching score tied for the highest score in its history (188 out of 200). Finally, though CVHS’s band is in Class B (class placement is based on a band’s cumulative scores the preceding season), its overall score placed it ninth out of the 25 bands that competed in the review, including seven bands in Class A. And all these achievements came despite the fact that the band was short 16 band members who were busy taking the PSAT exam.

Still, as CVHS Music Director Schick emphasized, “The scores don’t really matter as much as how we as a group improve. The Riverside King Band Review has grown into a really prestigious parade, and by being around so many outstanding bands, we learned what we need to do.”

The band and color guard will use what they learn in two more band reviews and three field show tournaments during this season, which ends in late November.

In addition to these competitions, the 115 members of the band and color guard perform their field show at halftime for CVHS varsity football home games at Glendale High School’s Moyse Field, and the band plays pep songs throughout every football game only taking a break in the third quarter for a much-needed snack. They also practice 10 hours a week.

The band’s next competition is the Hart Rampage Field Tournament in Santa Clarita, on Saturday, Oct. 23. For more information about the marching band’s performance schedule and links to information about the competitions, go to the CVHS Instrumental Music Department’s website, www.falconmusic.org.

Contributed by Susan Cross Stanley

  cvhs band, Riverside King Band Review