SRHS marching band places 4th at State
By Ashley Shah
The Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) Falcon Corps and Color Guard, which is the school’s marching band, captured fourth place out of the top 16 marching bands in California at the State Championships last weekend. This accomplishment ties the band’s best placement in SRHS history.
There are 67 members on the team. They compete in the 3A division based on their team size. The group consists of a wind, brass, percussion, and color guard section.
“We have won every tournament in our class,” director Russell Shedd said. “We won overall in the Temecula invitation. We won high percussion. We won high color guard.”
On Nov. 11, the team competed in the 3A division finals. The Falcon Corps and Color Guard placed second. The top marching bands from this competition advanced to the State finals held on Nov. 18.
“The top 16 marching bands in the state compete for the State championship,” Shedd said before the State Finals. “What I was really looking forward to this year was winning the state finals outright. We are placed third overall in our division, and all of the scores are close to each other, so it is anyone’s game.”
The Falcon Corps and Color Guard hosted its own tournament for marching bands in this region on Oct. 28 at SRHS.
“This was our 21st year hosting the Falcon Invitational. We had 11 bands come to perform,” Shedd said. “We spend months working on the invitational. It is one of our top fundraisers for our program.”
In addition to the Falcon Corps and Color Guard, there are many other sections of music that the SRHS music program offers.
“We have a very comprehensive music program. We have a lot of variety that the students can pick from,” Shedd said.
The offerings include concert band, orchestra, drumline, winter guard, jazz band, chamber orchestra, and indoor drumline.
“We have over 100 students across our music program. Since the pandemic, we have seen a dip in numbers. However, we anticipate that the music program will grow in the next couple of years,” Shedd said.
The music program holds several concerts throughout the year.
The winter concert series will take place in the days before the winter break. The orchestra, band and percussion will perform.
“The winter concert series is another great way to see what our music program can do, and the students have a lot of fun with it,” Shedd said.
In addition to their winter concert series, their main concert will include a spring concert in April, and a concert at the end of the year.
“Our end of the year concert has the ‘Grammy’s’ as the theme this year,” Shedd said. “People dress up for it. There is a silent auction; there are food trucks. The concert showcases a lot of our programs. Everyone in the community should show up for it.”
For more information about the music program, visit srhsmusic.com.
