Focus on SHS: Something for everyone In variety of music groups March 5, 2020

The music program at Shafter High School provides many opportunities for students to participate in different musical and performing groups. Shafter High offers Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Pit Orchestra, Choir, Drumline and Colorguard.

Most new members of the band begin in Concert Band to focus on skills and getting their musical knowledge to a higher level. After becoming more skilled in their crafts, students have the opportunity to audition and join Jazz Band and/or Wind Ensemble.

In Jazz Band, members receive extra practice time and learn a secondary instrument. These students learn how to play different styles like jazz, rock, latin and swing-style music. In the Wind Ensemble, the group plays only wind instruments and percussion. This is a top-level group because there is only one student on a musical part.

In the spring, band students have the opportunity to participate in the Pit Orchestra for the Shafter High School Spring Musical. This select group of students are playing professional level music to accompany the show to get a taste for what it takes to be a professional musician. This allows a bigger experience for the musical and involves the music department as a whole. Drumline and Colorguard are audition groups that work outside of class time prepare their competition show to compete in the PPAACC indoor drumline and color guard circuit Both groups join the full band in the fall to perform and compete in field shows and parade competitions. Over the past few years, the group has placed 3rd at the Fresno Fair parade competition, took 1st at the Camaro Christmas parade and placed high in the Ridgeview Field competitions. The band also has opportunities to participate in different festivals, like the Santa Barbara Jazz Festival, and to play at the UCLA football game.

The choir program performs at concerts in the Shafter community, as well as district festivals and performances throughout Kern County. They were recently featured in the 23ABC Christmas Choirs television special that aired on Christmas Eve, and was recorded on stage at the Fox Theater. The music director, Philip Bustamante, wants "to help students have a passion for playing and listening to music, expose them to different genres of music, and to make them a well rounded adult." He also has a goal for the music program to "bring it to a higher level of success and notary."

Bustamante wants people to know they "aren't just a little school out here in Shafter." He wants recognition for all the hard work the students put in and the success to back it up.