Mustang Performing Arts Take Shows on Road to Orange County
Band and orchestra performed and competed at Irvine High School while the dance team performed at Disneyland.
By Bella Ramos-Khajavi
Band and orchestra performed and competed at Irvine High School while the dance team performed at Disneyland.
By Bella Ramos-Khajavi
Through the days of April 21 to 24, jazz band, symphony orchestra, wind ensemble and the dance team took a trip to Disneyland.
The three band groups performed live at Irvine High School on April 22, as an annual trip prior to COVID-19 which resumed this year. The classes traveled by bus to southern California and made it to their venue. The dance team performed at the Disney California Adventure park on April 22 and attended an educational dance workshop the next day.
The three groups played a variety of songs.
“The songs we played (for jazz band) were ‘Moanin’’ by Bobby Timmons and ‘Sabor de Cuba’ by Victor López,” said Kunaal Pendse, 9.
Chamber orchestra, wind ensemble and a few students from jazz band played the waltz from “Masquerade Suite” by Aram Khachaturian and a piece called “Millennium” by Richard Meyer.
The bass section in orchestra got a special commendation, jazz band won a gold ranking and pianist Soren Larson, 11, received a special commendation for his performance.
Pendse believes that the adjudicated performance pushed fellow band and orchestra students to give it their all.
“Performing there was different from our usual performances as it was a competition so everyone made sure to play their very best,” said Pendse.
Orchestra member Tayla Boulos, 9, believes the performance was smooth.
“I think the performance went well. We managed to stay together despite not being able to rehearse with the band often,” said Boulos.
Band and orchestra teacher Lara Levy feels it was pleasant to perform in other spaces on other campuses.
“It’s also nice to go and play off campus because we’re kind of ambassadors for our school in other environments and we got to hear students from other places in the country,” said Levy.
Dance teacher Emma Jahde believes it is crucial to go on field trips due to them being postponed during the pandemic.
“The trip is pretty important to me considering that half of my team is seniors (and they were) looking forward to it for four years. I think it was somewhat important to bring back some normality again to field trips and events like that,” said Jahde.
Senior Ally Toombs enjoyed the workshop because of the advice given on how to improve her performance and applying it to other scenarios.
“My favorite part of the trip was definitely the dance workshop that we got to do with a choreographer who works for Disney. She taught us a routine and gave us tips on how to stand out during an audition and how to use dance to build our confidence and gain real world skills,” said Toombs.
Fellow dancer Kayla Thompson, 10, believes that this performance was different from others because of the setting.
“Performing at Disney felt like a lot more pressure to do our best because of the Disney name and professionalism,” said Thompson.
The two trips were important to teachers and students because of the memories and knowledge they bring.
“Ultimately, the hands-on experience that you get on some of those field trip opportunities is just something you can't get in the classroom,” said Jahde.
The three band groups performed live at Irvine High School on April 22, as an annual trip prior to COVID-19 which resumed this year. The classes traveled by bus to southern California and made it to their venue. The dance team performed at the Disney California Adventure park on April 22 and attended an educational dance workshop the next day.
The three groups played a variety of songs.
“The songs we played (for jazz band) were ‘Moanin’’ by Bobby Timmons and ‘Sabor de Cuba’ by Victor López,” said Kunaal Pendse, 9.
Chamber orchestra, wind ensemble and a few students from jazz band played the waltz from “Masquerade Suite” by Aram Khachaturian and a piece called “Millennium” by Richard Meyer.
The bass section in orchestra got a special commendation, jazz band won a gold ranking and pianist Soren Larson, 11, received a special commendation for his performance.
Pendse believes that the adjudicated performance pushed fellow band and orchestra students to give it their all.
“Performing there was different from our usual performances as it was a competition so everyone made sure to play their very best,” said Pendse.
Orchestra member Tayla Boulos, 9, believes the performance was smooth.
“I think the performance went well. We managed to stay together despite not being able to rehearse with the band often,” said Boulos.
Band and orchestra teacher Lara Levy feels it was pleasant to perform in other spaces on other campuses.
“It’s also nice to go and play off campus because we’re kind of ambassadors for our school in other environments and we got to hear students from other places in the country,” said Levy.
Dance teacher Emma Jahde believes it is crucial to go on field trips due to them being postponed during the pandemic.
“The trip is pretty important to me considering that half of my team is seniors (and they were) looking forward to it for four years. I think it was somewhat important to bring back some normality again to field trips and events like that,” said Jahde.
Senior Ally Toombs enjoyed the workshop because of the advice given on how to improve her performance and applying it to other scenarios.
“My favorite part of the trip was definitely the dance workshop that we got to do with a choreographer who works for Disney. She taught us a routine and gave us tips on how to stand out during an audition and how to use dance to build our confidence and gain real world skills,” said Toombs.
Fellow dancer Kayla Thompson, 10, believes that this performance was different from others because of the setting.
“Performing at Disney felt like a lot more pressure to do our best because of the Disney name and professionalism,” said Thompson.
The two trips were important to teachers and students because of the memories and knowledge they bring.
“Ultimately, the hands-on experience that you get on some of those field trip opportunities is just something you can't get in the classroom,” said Jahde.