Warm Springs Bands Achieve a Decade of Excellence

The following was submitted for publication on behalf of  Warm Springs Middle School's bands:

The streak continues.

The Symphonic and Intermediate bands at Warm Springs Middle School in Murrieta recently earned unanimous superiors at a competitive music festival presented by the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association.

It’s the 10th straight year the Symphonic Band earned superiors, which is the highest possible score, and nine of those years the high marks were unanimous among the three judges, including this spring. During that same 10-year stretch, the Intermediate Band has earned nine superiors (six of those unanimous) and one excellent, which is the second-highest score.

“This is a great achievement for the students,” said Trent Newton, the director of bands at Warm Springs Middle School.

During the festival, one of the selections the Symphonic Band performed was “Clockworks,” a colorful, rhythmic composition about clocks, written specifically for the 79-member ensemble by Randy Dulaney, the band and chorus director at Vail Ranch Middle School in Temecula.

Dulaney was one of Newton’s students in the early 1990s when he taught at Valley View High School in Moreno Valley. Today, Dulaney’s oldest daughter plays trumpet in the Symphonic Band at Warm Springs.

“This was a special moment for me – the world premiere of Randy’s work and having his daughter perform his composition,” Newton said.

In all, there were 44 elementary, middle and high school bands that performed during the SCSBOA festival, which took place on March 13 at Vista Murrieta High School and March 20 Temecula Valley High School.

The next performance for the Warm Springs bands will be the spring concert in the school’s multipurpose room on May 22 at 7 and 8:15 p.m.

For more information about the music program at Warm Springs Middle School, and to register to participate during the upcoming school year, visit http://wsmsband.com.