SBHS band gears up for its next competition
For the past seven years James Zuniga has been directing the San
Benito High School Scarlet Regiment band, but Zuniga has been
conducting for more than 30 years.
SBHS band gears up for its next competition
For the past seven years James Zuniga has been directing the San Benito High School Scarlet Regiment band, but Zuniga has been conducting for more than 30 years.
During that time, he has been shaping student musicians and molding them into adult performers.
“Students at San Benito High School have an incredible enthusiasm for wanting to try new things,” Zuniga said. “They’re respectful of traditions, but they also realize that a tradition is a new idea that caught on a long time ago.”
The San Benito band has accumulated more than 339 awards since its inception and during Zuniga’s tenure they have been especially good at winning awards.
It is his belief that band should be about something more than just students playing instruments; the mission statement of the Scarlet Regiment band is to provide members with life-changing experience – educationally and socially – which assist each individual member to gain real-world life skills, musical training and performance opportunities.
Through the practice and development of the character traits of commitment, discipline and teamwork, each member of this close-knit organization learns what the requirements are to be successful on and off the performance venue. During the four years that clarinetist Aubree Thompson has been with the band she has developed a sense of belonging.
“We’ve become a family,” Thompson said. “Everyone knows everyone else. I really like being part of something.”
Zuniga believes that participation in the band instills confidence and leadership skills, as well as developing a quality of character and strong work ethic that is desirable in the real-world workplace.
This may certainly be true for drum major David Bergen.
“As a drum major I get to compete against all the drum majors, not just other bands,” Bergen said. “I like that sense of competition.”
This year there are 61 members in Zuniga’s band and he says it’s a good mixture of old and new performers. Each member has his or her own talents and skills, he said.
“I think the new performers offer new life blood,” Zuniga said. “They’re not used to how things are so their excitement sometimes fuels things for the whole unit.”
Alex Engelhardt, a first-year trombone player agreed.
“It’s a high-energy environment,” Engelhardt said. “You kind of get a high from doing it.”
Most people think of high school bands performing on the sidelines at football games, but it is in competition where Zuniga’s band truly shines.
This year the Scarlet Regiment will perform in seven competitions throughout California. Competitions usually involve two facets: a marching competition and a field show. The field shows are where the bands are really given the opportunity to strut their stuff.
“The field shows allow us to showcase more of our creativity,” Zuniga said. “They allow us to show off the best creative outlet we have for the group.”
Often the music for field shows is much more contemporary and hip than the traditional music that one often associates with marching bands. For example, at a recent field show one band put on a tribute to Star Wars.
Zuniga would not divulge what the Scarlet Regiment is working on for this year’s competition, but he was adamant that it will put the band’s creativity to the test.
It was Zuniga who changed the name of the band from the San Benito High School Marching Band to the Scarlet Regiment.
“I wanted to establish an identity for the band,” Zuniga said. “A lot of other schools have done exactly the same thing.”
Much of his knowledge has come from the incredible guidance he has had over the years, Zuniga said.
“I’ve had some incredible mentors that have shown me things along the way,” Zuniga said. “In fact, the person who had the most influence on my career was the same person I replaced here seven years ago, Don Neddeau. Don was my high school band director many years ago when I was a student in Watsonville.”
