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Schools

Young Musicians Represent Fountain Valley

Fountain Valley Marching Band gets ready to march and compete in Laguna Beach's Patriot's Day Parade.

The skies were gray and drops of rain may have been coming down softly, but determined Fountain Valley Marching Band musicians continued their outdoor rehearsal last Friday in order to perfect their performance for Patriot’s Day Parade this Saturday in Laguna Beach.

The ensemble of 42 members will tread along the quarter-mile route, beginning at Park Avenue and Legion Street, turning north on Glenneyre Street  before heading west on Forest Avenue and finally ending on the corner of Ocean Avenue.

The band is excited to be representing Fountain Valley, as members show off their light blue band T-shirts and march while playing “Torch of Liberty March” by Karl L. King in the annual parade, celebrating the heroes of the U.S. armed forces.

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Saturday’s event is one out of three performances by the band. The group will head south to San Juan Capistrano to perform in the Swallows Day Parade at the end of the month. And in May, it will entertain hundreds of people at Knott’s Berry Farm.  

Marching band President Shelley Membrila was impressed with the young talents who have come through the program. “Once you get them involved in a small group like this, the eighth graders going into high school will be prepared to join their bands,” she said.

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Eighth grader Daniel Lynch from Fulton acknowledges that joining the band has helped him advance in skills that would have otherwise not have been discovered until high school.

“We practice longer and play harder songs,” Daniel said when comparing his FVMB experience with his middle school band. “And here, it was my first time having to memorize music. So that was different, but really useful.”

Band members from Fulton, Moiola, Masuda and Talbert middle schools gather for rehearsal every Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Fountain Valley High School.

FVMB director Rudy Arevalos, who also conducts for the brass section of Fountain Valley Royal Regiment at FVHS and Fulton’s band, is proud to be a part of the young musicians’ journey. As a first year director for FVMB, Arevalos looks forward to the upcoming year.

“I love coming to work,” he said. “I feel like [the students] are acutally my kids and I love being a part of shaping their performance as musicians.”

In addition, the program also allows students to make new friends and create bonds with one another, Arevalos added. “Most will go into Royal Regiment, and they would already know each other. So instead of trying to get comfortable, they can focus on the music and growing as a team.”

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