On Jan. 12, Band and Colorguard officially wrapped up the end of their marching season by hosting the 52nd Annual Spaghetti Dinner! The group had an extremely successful year; not only did they place 2nd at the SCSBOA Championship show, but they also won various awards throughout their season, including the Ramona High School Field Competition Sweepstakes and the Mt. Carmel Grand Champion Award. Family members, friends, and alumni filled up the seats in the gymnasium for this highly-anticipated event to enjoy good food and watch all the exciting pieces that the performers spent countless hours practicing for. The event was composed of three different showtimes—5 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m., but the marchers and guard members put on an equally spectacular performance for each show.

To start off the event with a bang, the band played a fun arrangement of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and transitioned into the “Star Spangled Banner”, which featured a solo part from a different performer for each show. The evening continued with more exciting pop pieces, a recap of this year’s field show and parade music—“A Swan’s Journey” and “March of the Women Marines,” and an audience favorite—the drill down. The drill down is a competition where marchers of each grade level have to accurately follow a command that the drum major gives them, which allows audience members to cheer on for their friends or family.

Performing a recap of the entire field show gave the musicians a chance to commemorate their fantastic season and to run through the show for the final time in a fun, non-competitive environment. Colorguard formed intricate shapes and breathtaking high throws while numerous soloists took their place throughout all three parts of the field show. Starting out with an upbeat and fast intro, part one of the show highlighted a swan “waking up” and “taking its place”, part two, the ballad, spotlighted two soloists, flute Anisha Karunananthan and clarinet Danny Tao, and part three ended on a powerful note to symbolize the swan finally taking off on its journey.

This event may be one that audience members always look forward to, but it is also one that the performers anticipate. Senior Carolyne Kim, who is the Drum Major and one of the alto sax section leaders, expresses that “Spaghetti Dinner is super special and fun for both the band and audience because of how entertaining, interactive, and lively it is.” And although the band may have tons of different performances throughout the entire year, Spaghetti Dinner still has a special place in her heart since it “is a great way for the members to uphold tradition, which is highly valued in the band” and “allows the performers to showcase their talents one last time.” Jadon Kwan, who is another senior and the Pep Band Leader, reveals that this event has always been memorable to him because it “gives the band a chance to remember and celebrate all the achievements that they’ve had,” while sophomore Alycia Lee states that her favorite parts of Spaghetti Dinner include “playing popular music, which is more fun since more people are familiar with it” and “being able to play together as a whole band with the graduating class for the last time before they split up for concert band.”

Since the beginning of this season, all marchers, whether new or experienced, had to start from scratch in learning the drill sets for the field show and had to memorize multiple pieces. Senior Candace Chen, French horn section leader said, “My favorite part about marching band and music, in general, is playing it. While having fun with my friends is one thing, the most memorable aspect has to be the chills I get when we play an empowering piece. Being surrounded by other musicians and feeling the vibrations of the music through my chest is a feeling that I don’t ever think I will be able to get another chance at.” Band season may now be officially over, but every single person has learned something memorable and realized that band has taught them something important to apply in life. Carolyne, Anisha, Jadon, and Candace, all of them agree that “band has taught [them] how to work with people differently than how [they] would have learned in a classroom or club.” Because of all the time they spent with other band members, they “really learned how to become more patient and open.”

Spaghetti Dinner was definitely a nice way for all the performers to properly wrap up their marching season. The show is always a huge success and this year, it was no different. Congratulations to all of the performers for having such an accomplished year and we wish them the best of luck for their upcoming concert season!

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