Friday nights under the lights on the field, marching in stadiums across Arizona, and rigorous practices throughout the week… Sahuaro’s marching band is doing all of this and more! They’re starting off on the right foot this year, actually… the left foot!
When Sahuaro’s band director announced he would be leaving in May of last year because of the position becoming part-time, students and staff were left to wonder what would happen with the program, specifically the marching band. Several students gathered to talk to our principal, Mr. Estrella, and voice their concerns about the marching band and the importance of the ensemble. When asked about the concerns several students expressed, Mr. Estrella said, “So in those cases, it’s impacted the quality and momentum going to this year. It’s impacted the clarity of what we’re trying to do from last year, and it helped us to get a person quickly, so that’s the impact.” Sahuaro welcomed Juan Guzman in June, and he was off to a strong start by having cleaning parties throughout the summer and a band camp in late July.
Mr. Guzman has been working to get the band ready for competitions and football games. Mr. Guzman has been a great match for Sahuaro. “I feel excited and nervous, but mostly excited. There is too much potential here, and I think a lot of the students don’t see it, so I’m nervous because I’m trying to find ways to show you guys the potential that you have, but I’m very excited for that potential.” This year he has goals to challenge the concert band with new repertoire, for the marching band to place in the top 5 of their division, and travel with the band! He said his overall goal for the band is to, “grow the program.”
Our new band director started professionally playing in Mexican bands when he was 14, later diving into the classical world. He came to Sahuaro from Pueblo, studied in conservatories in Paris, won international clarinet festivals, recorded on film soundtracks including Christopher Robin and The Nun, and so much more. He said, “Music has been my career.”
Coming from Pueblo, Guzman has noticed several differences. “Parent involvement. There’s a lot more parents that are involved here.” He also said, “The biggest thing – school support. At Pueblo, band was not it, band was seen as you’re only there to support the sports teams and that’s it. Anything else, they do not really want to support you. But here it’s different. Like I think we are seen as our own thing.”
Mr. Estrella said, “I think he’s come in and been very responsive to our students and our families on what they were hoping to envision what this program’s going to be. I think both parties, both family, students, and him had some thoughts, but together we created a new idea of what this year is going to look like. I’m very excited. My thoughts on this guy have been really positive. He knows what he’s doing, he’s very responsive…he’s done a great job of listening and working with everyone to create something.”
This year the band has over 25 members, making it one of the biggest bands Sahuaro has seen in the past couple of years. This season, they’re adding two new sections: color guard, and pit. Pit is a stationary group on the field that will be in the front of the band, and includes percussion and string instruments, and colorguard is a visual ensemble with flags on the field with the band. Adding these sections to the band has helped increase numbers, with 3 members in color guard, and 4 in pit. Junior Marie Jennings said, “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do, and I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t have it when I came here.” When she heard about the addition of colorguard from other band members, she jumped to join the team once school started.
The marching band has members from all walks of life, especially student-athletes. Football, volleyball, and cross country are just a few. Students can easily work around these conflicts, and one student, Savanna Horning, was finally able to join marching band this year because of the new pit section. She said, “Pit is very fun but difficult. I don’t have to march, so I can focus on my music, and if I have to miss a practice I can miss something with marching, which is much better for my schedule because I’m very busy with other sports. And I’m able to practice at home because I’m just doing music and not marching.” Savanna plays volleyball and club soccer in the fall (the same time marching band takes place), and soccer in the winter, so this year she’s finally able to join!
The band has been hard at work finding their groove, and they played at the Red and Blue Scrimmage on the 16th. They’ll travel to almost every varsity football game, and compete on Saturdays. Come watch them play and perform their 2024 show at the first home game on September 13, which includes the music of the popular rock band, Queen.
