The Amador Valley Marching Band competed in their first competition last Saturday  at Gilroy High School, organized by the Western Band Association (WBA). 

At approximately 8:40 P.M., Amador’s marching band took the field to perform. The band performed part of their show “The Crown,” which included some familiar tunes, such as the band’s rendition of “Royals” by Lorde, among other things. The performance won Amador second place among four 5A bands, with a score of 77.300. First place went to James Logan High School in St. Union City, scoring 81.150.

Band director Johnathan Grantham is very content with the performance.

 “The Marching Dons turned in a strong season opener at Gilroy,” said Grantham. “I am proud of the band members for representing our school and community with class and performing with a high level of excellence.”

Preparing for the performance was no easy feat. “We practice for 12 hours a week across three days, and the week of the competition we practice for 16 hours total across four days,” said tenor saxophone section leader Mihir Joshi (‘24). “We practice extensively and in order to do so, we need good etiquette to make practices beneficial and efficient.”

Trumpet section leader Hanna Cha (‘24) feels that the band’s practice paid off. “I personally felt that our performance at Gilroy went well and that our long hours at practice paid off,” said Cha. “I believe the band worked incredibly hard for our first competition, and I am very proud of our performance.”

On top of their grand performance, assistant band director Edwin Cordoba was very impressed with the way the Dons acted during the event. 

“Our three values- community, commitment, and growth were on full display at this past weekend’s Western Band Association Gilroy competition,” says Cordoba. “From the rehearsal, to the bus loading hype meetings, to the bus ride, and at the actual competition site, I saw Amador Valley band members looking after each other, congratulating the other bands, and thanking our parent volunteers. Being good humans with an espíritu de corps is what it’s all about.”