Beginning Thanksgiving Break with musical cheer and excitement, the Arcadia Music Club and the Arcadia Festival of Bands (AFOB) Committee held their 71st AFOB Competition on Nov. 23. This year, the overarching theme was “Behind the Scenes!” to recognize the hard work of the volunteers and staff that support AHS’ musical organizations. AHS would tie with Etiwanda High School for 2nd place in the Championships with a score of 94.3 points, maintaining their position as Silver Medalist of the 6A SCSBOA Championships since 2023. Rancho Bernardo High School earned the 1st place Gold Medalist award with a score of 96.6 points.

The day-long competition featured a Band Review, a Percussion Festival, and the 6A Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association (SCSBOA) Field Show Championships, with the former two being held at Arcadia High School (AHS) and the latter held at Citrus College. 

The festival began with a parade of retro vehicles cruising down W. Duarte Road, carrying passengers such as Arcadia City Manager Mr.Dominic Lazzaretto, AHS Principal Dr. Angie Dillman, and Arcadia Unified School District (AUSD) Teacher of the Year Mrs. Courtney Franz. Crowds lined the streets, waving to the cars as they honked and passed down the street.

At 9 a.m., the AHS marching band started off the Band Review as the first performance, setting off cheers and applause as judges announced the grand opening of AFOB. AUSD schools First Avenue Middle School, Foothills Middle School and Dana Middle School performed next, leaving the rest of the competition for the schools that were visiting Arcadia. The parade proceeded until 12:50 p.m., showcasing 44 high school bands from as far as San Diego.

Simultaneously taking place in the Salter Stadium, the Percussion Festival featured the percussion line of each school as they performed their own pieces. Chosen by the SCSBOA to judge for the Percussion Festival, Percussion Adjudicator Mr. Bruno Cilloniz has been a judge for AFOB for over 15 years.

“I’m just looking for quality of excellence and uniformity, musicality…[A lot] of composition…falls on the hands of the adjudicator and designers,” said Mr. Cilloniz. “It’s nice to get a little mix of the designers and the students getting a fair read of what they’re performing and putting out there.”

Rankings are given in real time according to the SCSBOA rubric, allowing Mr. Cilloniz to give a structured critique, and while some competitions offer feedback post-competition, AFOB does not. 

Later that night, hundreds of spectators flocked to Citrus College, where the 6A SCSBOA Field Show Championships were held. The competition began at 4:30 p.m. and ended at 8 p.m., showcasing a total of 12 bands from Southern California. AHS performed their show titled “Stretched to the Limit” at 7:30 p.m., garnering shouts and cheers from the packed bleachers as Arcadia supporters raised light-up signs and posters. 

“Coming off the field, I felt really good about our performance, and I was especially proud of how we performed,” said junior Kaitlyn Fong, a flutist in Band. “Personally, I feel like I played the best I could, and I performed everything to the fullest.”

AFOB and the 6A SCSBOA Field Show Championships are the final competition of this year’s band season, and their most memorable competitions were Utah and the Senior Tribute, according to Fong.

“We had one of our strongest performances in Utah, [and] got to see a lot of other super great bands and spent a lot of time hanging out in the houses, which were really nice,” said Fong. “Senior tribute was also really memorable to me because my section put in a lot of work for my seniors, and I was really happy that we got to show our seniors how much we love and appreciate them.”

Concluding the night with the awards ceremony, the 12 bands gathered on the football field, with the Drum Major, Band President, Band Vice President, Percussion Leaders, and Color Guard Captains of each school standing in position at the front of their school. AHS would tie with Etiwanda High School for 2nd place in the Championships with a score of 94.3 points, maintaining their position as Silver Medalist of the 6A SCSBOA Championships since 2023. Rancho Bernardo High School earned the 1st place Gold Medalist award with a score of 96.6 points.