Tracy High places 42 in county honor band, orchestra, choir
David Just practices playing the tuba for the county honor band performance.
November 22, 2013
High schools from all over San Joaquin county competed for a spot in the County Honor Band, Orchestra, and Choir. Tracy High had 20 students accepted into band, 13 students accepted into choir, and nine students accepted into orchestra.
The Director of Bands at Tracy High is Jeffrey Kumagai, the department director for Choir is Jennifer Grover, and the Director of the Orchestra is Tom Renner.
The San Joaquin county honor band recipients are: Tristin Arce, Sandra Bae, Loren Bennion, Kristen Campbell, Elizabeth Chen, Michael De Lashmutt, Jeremy Eggers, Zach Frye, Aditya Gupta, Soham Gupta, David Just, Karel Kouda, Adriana Lopez, Mikayla Montoya, Billy Ornellas, Brandon Reynolds, Rebeca Santiago, Jamison Sloan, Austin Tavares, and Isabel Vaishampayan.
The San Joaquin County honor choir recipients included: Allison Beteta, Jordan Carroll, Taya Dillard, John Donhito, Evan Eggers, Samantha Glover, Ciara Grimes, Brad Johnson Hannah Lampkin, Sierra McElley Bailey Poole, Angelyn Rocha, and Paris Tibebu.
The San Joaquin County honor orchestra recipients are: Josephine Bennion, Briana Carmichael, Johnathan Fox, Daniel Gibbard, Jessica Hurst, Kor Hurst, Caroline Kimura, Angela Mesgarzadeh, and Destiney Ward.
“I feel awesome because 20 students from the band department were selected which was the highest number of any high school in the county,” Kumagai said.
Tracy High tied with the number one position for the choir team at the county level position with a total of 13 students. The Tracy High orchestra had a total of nine students which was the third highest for all of the high schools that competed.
“It is great that Tracy High had the top three violin positions and the lead viola seat. It’s just an amazing opportunity for the students,” Renner said. “I am very proud of all the students for taking a leadership position in something that they love to do.”
Renner believes that more students should have taken the unique opportunity of playing music at the county level.
“I am surprised that there are not more students who want to compete to be a part of this” Renner said.
“There were no surprises for this time around, but I am always pleased to see freshmen get in,” Grover said. “There are four freshmen on the team: Samantha Glover, Sierra McElley, Paris Tibebu, and Bailey Poole.”
The choir, band, and orchestra groups practiced for a long time.
“The choir worked very hard for county positions and prepared for two months,” Grover said. “The students sang many songs and had to make recordings.”
Mesgarzadeh, senior, is the lead viola player and obtained the first chair position at the San Joaquin County Orchestra competition. She has been playing the viola since the eighth grade.
“This is one of my greatest accomplishments and it has helped me to gain a higher level of confidence,” Mesgarzadeh said. “I have been involved with the orchestra for four years and it has been one of my most memorable high school experiences.”
The San Joaquin County Honor performance will take place at the Atherton Auditorium at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.
