Usually, the shopping district at California’s Universal CityWalk is filled with everyday tourists. But on March 29, the Conestoga marching band flooded the streets with drums and music. Every year, the music department takes students on various trips, ranging from closer destinations and larger travel experiences. This year, the Conestoga music department arranged a five-day trip to California from March 26 to March 30, with over 200 students attending.
Preparation started last year in May when the music department held informational meetings to help students and parents learn more about the trip. Students from the marching band, concert choir and jazz band practiced and learned new songs to perform on the trip at a rehearsal on March 27.
“We started preparing the songs that we didn’t know maybe three weeks in advance,” said freshman Annica Sugalski, a member of Cantata and Chorale. “But we also had other stuff to do in rehearsal, so it was hard to balance.”
After arriving at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and celebrating with a pool party, the students woke up early the next morning to tour Hollywood and Sony Studios. They explored the production sets of famous television shows and movies, including Jeopardy and Spider-Man.
“I really liked touring the Jeopardy set because I really liked watching Jeopardy, so that was really fun,” sophomore and concert choir member Declan MacDonald said.
On March 28, the students visited the San Diego Zoo, where the chorus, orchestra and band performed at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. The ensembles played songs from Hollywood movies and their spring concerts on a stage surrounded by trees. Passersby could sit and listen to the students’ songs on the benches lined around the platform’s edge.
The next day, the marching band performed its Pixar-themed show on the 5 Towers Stage in Universal CityWalk. The band members played songs from movies like the Incredibles and Toy Story and exited the stage with cadences from their drumline. Once they finished packing up the trailer, students had the rest of the day to explore Universal Studios, where they went on rides like Revenge of the Mummy and Hogwarts Express.
“For the marching band performance, it was literally inside Universal on the CityWalk, which was really cool,” Sugalski said. “A bunch of people stopped to watch us, which was fun.”
The music department returned to Conestoga on March 30 after departing from the Los Angeles airport, concluding their trip to California. Many students valued the unique opportunity to perfom and explore new places with their friends, including sophomore Ava Diep, a member of the orchestra.
“My favorite part was probably Universal. It was really fun,” Diep said. “We just spent the entire day at Universal, so we just walked around all day with our friends.”
Lexi Lin can be reached at [email protected].
Sophia Wu can be reached at [email protected]
