April 19, students packed into a bus and drove for 10 hours with a final destination in mind. The symphonic band, jazz band as well as choir travelled to WorldStrides OnStage Music festival in San Diego to perform in front of hundreds of other students from schools all over the west coast, some even travelling from as far as Utah. In the audience were also adjudicators from colleges and universities from across the country to watch some of the best students perform and compete.

“The experience was so great. We really gave it our all and were so happy with our results. We really had such a great time together and bonded a lot,” Marinn McManis said.

The award show took place April 22 at Sea World, resulting in a Bronze Award for the concert choir and a Gold Award for jazz band. The symphonic band was awarded a Silver Award, being just one point away from a Gold Award, the highest award obtainable in the competition. Also awarded were Maestro Awards to both Gabby Bocchicchio and Kaylene Munoz, an award given to specific individuals who were outstanding in their own performance within the ensemble.

“I was pretty shocked when I heard my name called both because they pronounced my name right and because I was not expecting to be noticed by the judges. It was amazing being up there though and knowing that they thought my performance was that good,” Bocchicchio said.

One final award was achieved by the music program, the Spirit of San Diego Award, that was only awarded to one school at the entire festival.

“[We] received the ‘Spirit of San Diego’ award as voted on by all six adjudicators and the entire WorldStrides Staff.  The award goes to the single school of the weekend who are supportive of other schools, supportive of their own program and polite, kind and courteous in their interactions with adjudicators, WorldStrides staff, bus drivers, Cuyamaca College Staff and hotel staff,” Mr. Kris Harper said.

Although the purpose of the weekend-long festival was to perform and compete, that is not all the program did. Between performances, the students were able to visit the San Diego Zoo, tour the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier and even run around Sea World.

“My favorite parts were probably the zoo because I love animals and the Midway because it had this flight simulator that was super fun, even though me and my friend crashed at least five times and were horrible at it,” Bocchicchio said.

Overall, the weekend was seen as a success by the music program, not only resulting in multiple superior awards, but also a great experience for all the students.

Harper said, “It was a great weekend of music making and education.”

by CAMERYN OAKES