Gallery • 17 Photos

J. Dollins

The boys are back for their final concert! From left: Axel Vasquez, Diego Olvera, Ulises Castillo-Reyes, Manuel Alonso, and Hector Castillo.

Colton, CA—On Wednesday night, the CHS choir and band hosted their final concert of the school year in the newly refurbished Whitmer Auditorium. The audience was treated to a strong program featuring performances by choir, jazz ensemble, and wind ensemble, as well as solos by several featured musicians.

This concert was special, not just because of the renovated auditorium, which played host to its first concert in over two years, but because this was the last performance for band and choir’s seniors. 

The choir started the night off with the songs “Picture Me Better” by indie folk rock artist Weyes Blood and “I’m Still Standing” by pop icon Elton John. 

The ultimate highlight of the night was when musicians from the beginning band joined the choir for their performance of another Weyes Blood song, “A Lot’s Gonna Change.” Vivian Guevara, who sang lead vocals, had a stand out night, performing in nearly every set of songs in the concert. “A Lot’s Gonna Change” was her most memorable of the night, due to how well she sang with each ensemble.

The combination of choir and beginning band also introduced instruments that haven’t been seen at any CHS concert, bringing a new sound that painted a picture never before imagined. 

Guevara was most notably accompanied by the Marin sisters, Samantha and Scarlett, who played the violin and the synthesizer.

The crowd was in awe of these new sounds and the amount of talent that goes into learning them, and so the figurative spotlight was on the two. 

“I feel like the audience really liked it,” Samantha said, “I think I could’ve done a bit better, but I also didn’t do really bad. So that’s good!” 

Looking back on the choir’s set, Band Director Kenneth Taber was surprised how it all played out. 

“Choir was so good. I don’t wanna be like it was better than I thought, but the choir kids always tend to bring it on the night of the concert,” Taber said, “The day to day is kind of like ‘I don’t know what I’m going to get’ but tonight was fantastic.”

Once the crowd finally died down, the Band Director Kenneth Taber took a minute intermission to introduce the Jazz Band. 

Their set started with Buffalo Head, an energetically swung piece that involved the talents of soloists Daniel Lopez-Escobedo, Rafael Ramirez, Izak Landero, and Victor Vasquez as they won the crowd over in their improvised solos. 

Vivian Guevara and beginning band students made a return on stage to perform the traditional standard “Blue Moon,” as arranged by Victor Lopez, with the Jazz Band. 

Following that set, the program’s largest and most summative group, the Wind Ensemble took the stage. They presented three pieces full of perfect moments that had the crowd truly feeling the music. 

“Oftentimes these performances are not about like, ‘Oh did the song go perfectly?’—if we played perfectly or whatever,” Taber explained, “The performance is about moments. So in a certain song, across different sections, where in the song was there a really nice moment?”

“Appalachian Morning,” arranged by Robert Sheldon, and “Skyfall” by Adele, as arranged by Jay Bocook, had plenty of those special moments Taber mentioned, especially when soloists Isaac Ornelas, Rafael Ramirez, Marcos Juarez, and Victor Vasquez did their part. 

“The Seal Lullaby,” with soloists Scarlett Marin, Isaac Ornelas, Genesis Rodela Uriarte, and Gabriella Gomez especially, made some in the crowd not believe what they were hearing. 

Woodwind instructor Rome Ababat came to watch the students he helps teach play tonight. 

“The Wind Ensemble sounded really good and balanced really nice. Especially in a new hall, you don’t know what to expect in terms of sounds. They blended really well. I loved it. Shout out to the soloists.”

When the last note was played on stage and it was time to clean up, some seniors refused, staying behind long after everything was over. 

Justin Leon describes his emotions following the concert. “They haven’t hit yet [how he feels]. I’m just waiting for it. I’m probably gonna go home today and it’s just going to be like ‘Damn… it’s over. No more performances.’”

The band will miss its seniors, but if you were to ask any of them, they would say that for this Spring Concert they definitely saved their best for last.