Exciting and
Successful Season!
On Friday December 1, the Amador Valley High School Marching
Band and Colorguard celebrated the closing of the marching band season
at the Winter Marching Band Awards. Student-chosen
awards, mostly humorous but some serious, were enjoyed by faculty,
staff, students and parents during this entertaining reflection of a
very successful season.
The Marching Dons ended their competitive season at the
Western Band Association Class 4A/5A Championships, which were held at
Buchanan High School in Clovis , CA . On
Saturday, November 18, the Dons presented their field show in
Preliminary Competition. Somewhat apt for
a show entitled Alcatraz , a bed of fog enveloped the band as they
performed for a short-lived, season-high score of 88.15, sending the
band into the Finals Competition the next day, Sunday, November 19.
At Finals, an impressively large crowd of Amador fans could
be heard throughout the stadium. In
addition to those wearing purple, fans of other bands were often heard
commenting enthusiastically on the crowd-pleasing show presented by
Amador. In the days after the competition,
Mr. Jon Grantham, Director of Music at Amador, reflected in the Amador
Friends of Music Newsletter, “The Amador Valley High School Marching
Band and Colorguard is an amazing force to watch perform and I was
certain that there was no one left in Pleasanton when I looked up into the
stands [at finals] and saw the huge section of purple. It was awe
inspiring. It is a special thing we have created here”.
To be sure, the band performed its best show of the season
that day in November, earning its second season-high score in two days,
and returning with the Fifth Place trophy.
The
AVHS Marching Band and Colorguard were led this year by Drum Majors
Devin Maguire, Anthony Sanchez and Allison Gehl, and colorguard
captains Kate Dowdy and Taylor Terhune. Featuring
original music by John M. Meehan, the show evoked the moods and drama
of the legendary prison in the bay, complete with a hand-cranked police
siren, alarm bells and prison bars.
Mr. Grantham was specially celebrated by his
students at the Winter Awards with a handmade quilt, presented by the
Band Council, and sewn by band parent Cherie Stueve.
With a theme of music and marching bands, pieced fabrics
in all shades purple and bearing the insignia of Amador Valley High
School , the quilt is finished in stitching that includes the names of all 205 students of the Amador Valley Marching Band and
Colorguard.
The day after the awards, the band enjoyed
their final march, donning Santa hats, lights and garland, and
performed to an appreciative hometown crowd in the Pleasanton Main Street Holiday Parade.
Since Mr. Grantham’s arrival at Amador in
2002, the band and colorguard have more than doubled in size, and the
Dons have moved from WBA Class 3A competition to the Class 5A
competition, which includes the largest bands and highly competitive
field shows. In 2006, for the first time ever, the Marching Dons
competed in a Bands of America Regional Competition at the LA Coliseum,
where they also were chosen to present in Finals Competition. In
2006 WBA Competition, the Amador Valley Marching Band and Colorguard
also earned two Sweepstakes Awards, one Third Place trophy, and
multiple Caption Awards in General Effect, Music and Visual.
