March 3-6, the Maricopa High School Band, Orchestra and Winter Guard took their fifth bi-annual trip to Anaheim, California, to participate in a national festival sponsored by Worldstrides OnStage Programs.
Students performed at the Rose Center Theater in Westminster, California. The orchestra had a clinic with Neal Hendricksen from Woods Cross High School in Utah. The band and guard had clinics with Jeffrey Sisil from the Kingston Jazz Band. The students enjoyed visiting Universal CityWalk and Disneyland and topped off the weekend with an awards ceremony held in Disney’s Fantasyland Theater.
“This year marked some of our best performances in this program since we began these trips back in 2009,” director Ivan Pour said. “Our band and orchestra earned a Silver Award (the second-highest, equivalent to a rating of Excellent), and our Winter Guard earned a Gold Award (the highest available – equivalent of a rating of Superior). Our orchestra concert master, junior Joseph “Kyle” Ferland was recognized with a Maestro Award for outstanding musicianship. Our entire group was for the third time awarded the Spirit of Anaheim award for outstanding teamwork and outstanding representation of our school and community.
“These are truly wonderful students that Maricopa can be proud of,” he added, “and it is a joy and privilege to be able to work with these students learning about making music each day in class and a joy to see their hard work pay off on stage!”
