The Cupertino Courier

Cover Story

Photograph by Brian Connelly

The Cupertino High School 'Pioneer' Marching Band & Color Guard marches during the Pleasanton Parade Competition Fall 2005 hosted by Foothill High School.

Band Extravaganza

Cupertino will host the Tournament of Bands for the 36th year, making it the city's longest-running event

By RUBY ELBOGEN

As the song goes, "I love a parade." Those who thrill at the oom-pah-pah of a tuba and the tat-a-tat-tat of the drums as smartly uniformed bands pass by should get ready for the big parade.

On Oct. 14, at precisely 10 a.m., the 36th annual Tournament of Bands will commence on Miller Avenue, continue on to Stevens Creek and end at Finch. While the parade route may be short, the entertainment value is long.

Approximately 20 high school bands from around Northern California are expected to participate in this year's competition, including those in the Fremont High School District.

The drill-down, a marching maneuvers competition, begins at 1:30 p.m.; parade awards are bestowed at 2 p.m. and at 4 the Cupertino High School's field gates open to welcome one and all who want to be wowed at the field show competition, beginning at 4:30.

The Cupertino High School Band hosts the TOB, as the event has been nicknamed; it is looked forward to by all the school bands as the kick-off to the Bay Area's competitive band schedule.

Thousands of high school band members, along with all the volunteers and staff, and the massive array of instruments and paraphernalia TOB requires will begin arriving in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

For Sheldon Galdeira, Cupertino High's band director, and known to his students as Mr. G, this year will be his second TOB. When Galdeira arrived here from Hawaii last year, he inherited this massive event as his first undertaking, and had little time to prepare. Luckily, Cupertino High's experienced and hardworking band boosters were able to offer expertise and advice.

As host, the school must designate an area on campus for each band to congregate, practice, feed its musicians, park the buses and trucks, hang all the uniforms and costumes--including all the color guard equipment--and change clothes. In other words, it takes a village.

According to Joseph Kelly, band director at Fremont High, "TOB is a major event. It's our first band competition of the season, it's our debut event, and all the schools participating look forward to it every year."

For senior Philip Chang, this will be his second year as Cupertino High School's co-drum major. He said, "Marching band has been a great experience for me. I've been part of the band since I was a freshman. It's welcoming, and everyone in band is a friend. We really don't have cliques."

A band's drum major gets instructions from the band director and imparts them to the band. Andrew Gonsalves, who has played tenor sax in the band four years, described the drum major's orders as "the voice of God." Andrew, who hopes to be in band when he goes off to college next year, wants to become a professional musician. He has many fond and funny memories. "My most embarrassing moment was splitting my pants just before taking the field at a performance last year," he said.

Cosmo Jiang, who plays alto sax, said, "Marching band is a place to make lifelong friends, and we recruit freshmen and encourage them when they join." Laura Williams, an alto sax player, has enjoyed her years of being in band and said it's a plus when applying for college. "Being a band musician takes dedication and many hours of hard work in addition to all the other studying and homework in high school. One of my memorable moments was during my first competition when the rest of the band turned right and I turned left, crashing into the person next to me."

It's clear the seniors will miss their band family next year; it saddens them that this will be their last year in the Cupertino High Band. For Philip, "This will be our last TOB, our home show. We will also all miss the rides home on the band bus, talking and joking." Laura and Andrew say, "The last field show last year, at Stockton, was our best. We went all out and did very well."

Band booster Craig Slama has been involved with TOB since 1979, when, as a freshman, he joined the band. "This will be TOB's 36th year," he said, "making it the longest continuous running festival or event in Cupertino." "Bob Gomez, who was 'Tino's band director for 39 years, started it as a fundraiser in 1970, in order to take the band to the Rose Parade in Pasadena. It was so successful it has continued for all these years," he added.

Slama, who was drum major in 1981 and 1982, remains an active band booster, even though both his children have graduated from high school and the marching band. He has fond memories of his time as part of the group. "Band is an extended family; as a group we took great pride in what we did." Aside from falling off the podium once while he was conducting the band during a competition, he did take a first place as drum major in the same year the band placed first in Northern California.

Being a band member is not only time-consuming; it's expensive. Families contribute between $350 and $500 toward their child's expenses. Cupertino's TOB supports the music program at Cupertino High School by providing the rest. This year, the Cupertino City Council waived the fees usually charged to organizations holding major events in the city. This will allow the band the additional funding it needs to operate.