At the start of marching season, Westview GOLD members have been exposed to new choreography and music that they have been consistently practicing together as a group and within their own instrument sections during class. They also spend their time on Tuesday nights rehearsing from 6-9 p.m. as they prepare for their first tournament of the season, the Rancho Bernardo Tournament, Oct. 6.
In preparation for the season, the program also went through various sets of changes, including the percussion section having a high increase in new members this year, in comparison to the previous ones. Kunal Shah (12) has been in percussion and drumline since his freshman year and said that he feels bittersweet in seeing how far the group has come in the past three years. Shah attributes this improvement to an increase in passion for playing among the members and also the help of their drumline tech, Greg Wheeler, who is in his second year coaching the group.
“Admittedly, we weren’t at the top tier [my freshman year], but now that I’m leaving as a senior, we’re getting good,” Shah said. “It’s almost melancholy [because] I want to be here when we’re good, but I’m happy that we’re starting a new wave of growth.”
Despite losing 32 seniors last year in band, they gained 35 new freshmen, and the program has 177 members this year, which is seven more than they did last year. This has been the highest number of incoming freshmen since the start of COVID-19. Band director Mitchell Way said he hopes that this signifies a positive turnaround of a continuing increase of students joining the program. Way also said that he believes this growth in the percussion section has been reflective of the group being more serious about their practices.
GOLD also welcomed new associate band director Andrew Fresquez, who has been working alongside Way. Fresquez previously taught at schools in Riverside and Orange County and came to Westview not only as an outsider to the school but PUSD and San Diego as well.
“There’s a very different approach to music here,” Fresquez said. “In past programs [I’ve been in] it’s always been about the end result and being the best. I have more of an outlook that if you are doing everything and care for the music and care for the students, that will foster them to be on the top. [The program] is more in line with how I view music, and how music should be taught, received, and how students are able to participate and engage with it. ”
As an associate band director, Fresquez is more involved with helping younger students build their skill levels to progress to the more advanced bands. However, he still works with all of the students in the program.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive,” Fresquez said. “I’ve had a lot of fun working with and getting to know a lot of the students, and I’m glad that they’re including me in things. They’re bringing me in and they’re teaching me about the culture of the school, the program, and just showing me who they are as people.”
GOLD President Kate Tripiano (12) said Fresquez’s influence on the students and the program has already been noticeable.
“[Fresquez] is really pushing us during our rehearsals and as musicians and marching band members,” Tripiano said. “He helps us to move in a timely manner and get stuff done quickly. He’s super nice and pushes us while still being reasonable and fair.”
Way said that with Fresquez’s extensive experience working in various programs, he is able to bring a new perspective to help the program grow and improve.
“He’s just a really great counterbalance [with me],” Way said. “I’m a woodwind person, and that’s my background, and [Fresquez] is a brass person. That’s a weirdly minor thing, but also very big for us. He’s had a lot of experience, and observing what we do, giving feedback, and changing things here and there has been very helpful.”
For each marching tournament, bands are adjudicated on various components including the accuracy of their music, Color Guard, percussion, and visuals. So it is essential that the group focuses on various parts of production.
“We’re taking the approach of just learning it as we go,” Way said. “It’s kind of a generative phase where they’re learning all the stuff once they finish the drill, then it’s where the real work starts.”
For his first competitive marching season at Westview, Fresquez said he hopes to achieve a high visual score.
“I want to shoot for the highest visual score, which is what the band members do, how they march, what choreography they do, and that’s something I have an extensive background in,” Fresquez said. “By expanding the range of choreography choices that we do, and bringing a more modern approach to the visual design, I want to plant seeds [now, because] that’s the direction I would like to begin motivating and seeing where we can take everything.”
