Bands “swing out of the year” at their spring concert

The CVHS jazz band, concert band, and symphonic band all delivered a phenomenal performance in their last concert of the school year, “Swinging Out of the Year,”  on May 15. The band concert was conducted by CVHS’s new band director Steven Hendee.

Hendee has been a band director for 20 years and was previously a band director at San Francisco School of the Arts. He enjoyed his first year at CVHS and hopes all of his students had “a great high school musical experience.”

“The students were very welcoming and I had a great time being their band teacher,” said Hendee.

During the band concert, several awards were handed out to all of the hard-working students and graduating seniors. The Band Director Awards, which were given to students who go above and beyond what is expected of them, were given to students at all grade levels. The following students who received the Band Director Awards were Calvin Tang, Samuel Cho, Marissa Espiritu, Quilleran Cronwall, Joshua Kwan, Cameron Beresini, Tamiko Cavey, Kelly Chan, Cameron Richey, Jeffrey Van, and Trevor Fontana Acebo.

Outstanding Musician Awards were handed out to Belinda Liu, Micah Kim, Grant Lin, and Spencer Stanford.

“My favorite part of band is being able to challenge myself to play difficult music,” said Stanford, who won the Outstanding Musician Award all four years he’s been in band.

With a wonderful and exuberant group of musicians, band was ultimately a worthwhile experience.

“The best part of band is getting to know the people who I wouldn’t have met if I wasn’t in the class,” said junior Samantha Lee.

Overall, the last band concert of the year was fantastic. The hard work the band students had shown throughout the school year was reflected by their wonderful performances during the concert.

“We had an awesome year and I am looking forward to the next years to come,” said Hendee.