Canyon High School’s marching band, the Gold Star Brigade, and the rest of the Instrumental Music Department ensure that our campus is never truly silent. Bringing their background noise to the foreground, our music program represents Canyon with wonderful performances at competitions, festivals, athletic events, and more!
This year, the Gold Star Brigade is focusing their efforts on their show entitled “Illusions,” combining marching band and magic tricks. In their performance, they feature songs composed by Joshua V. Hinkel and Aaron G. Railey.
The different sections that make up Canyon’s marching band remind everybody that “it takes a village.” To start, Battery plays their snare drums, tenor drums, and bass drums. Marching with them are the clarinets, flutes, saxophones, low brass, and high brass, and the front ensemble brings it all together with melodic keyboard instruments and auxiliary percussion instruments. Though they aren’t playing music, Color Guard also takes the field and helps bring the “color, flair, and visual interpretation of the music” to life by spinning flags, rifles, and other wooden props.
Lots of detail goes into the wonderful performance the marching band produces. Senior Elise Haupt explained some of the visuals that spectators have seen as the 2025 season marches by saying, "The props on the field are three posters along with a giant hat. The posters are of card suits, a hat with a rabbit in it, and a magic wand. These props symbolize the objects which are associated with the culture of magic tricks, and are meant to give the atmosphere of mystery and wonder.”
It is clear that “Illusions” includes a lot of various magic tricks and mysteriously fun shenanigans, as Haupt adds that “there are references in the show to pop songs such as ‘Houdini’ by Eminem and ‘Abracadabra’ by Lady Gaga.”
The Gold Star Brigade plays at every home football game, with their last halftime show of the 2025 season having been last Friday on Halloween. Yet, the end of the football season does not mean the end of the GSB’s fall season as they participate in competitions across Southern California. At a recent competition, our award-winning Marching Band took third place in auxiliary/percussion, and Color Guard placed fourth overall at Pierce College. If you're looking to cheer them on as they compete, then consider driving over to Simi Valley’s Royal High School this Saturday, Nov. 8, to see them perform at 5 p.m.
The GSB is not the only musical group at Canyon High School, shifting the spotlight to the other ensembles that make up the Instrumental Department. Our CHS Symphonic Band practices the basic techniques of instrument playing and other fundamental music skills, with no audition required. String Orchestra is composed of students with no musical experience and those who do play another instrument, working on “the basics of string technique, fundamental ensemble skills, and music literacy.”
The more advanced students in other ensembles, such as Chamber Orchestra, work almost entirely independently. Jazz Ensemble is another audition-only group made up of advanced jazz musicians learning music theory and how to improvise. The title for the most-auditioned group goes to Wind Ensemble, focusing on skills such as tone production, technique, musicality, and phrasing.
All of these incredible groups of students perform at different concerts and events throughout the academic school year. Recently, they presented their Fall Concert on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. Attendees were able to hear a variety of recognizable songs, such as “Death by Glamour” from the video game “Undertale” and “Love Is An Open Door” from “Frozen.” Their next concert lands on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m., so be sure to save the date!
These Canyon students bring life to our campus with their colorful music and performances. They are a large group of hard workers and, on a personal note, magnificent people. If you're looking to support them and their program, they are currently fundraising through Snap! to raise money for uniforms, transportation, new instruments, and more. Their fundraiser runs until Nov. 12, and you can find the link to donate here. (Rumor has it the band director, Mark De La Vega, is going to bleach his hair if they reach their goal—but you didn’t hear that from me!)
