Warm Springs Middle School Band Celebrates Another Superior Season

When Band Director Trent Newton came to nine years ago to teach kids how to play music, all the instruments were purchased by the district. Many of those same instruments are still being used by students, but the band boosters--made up mainly of parents--support most everything else the band does, such as attending festivals and competitions.

It's paying off.

The school’s intermediate and symphonic bands recently earned superiors--the highest possible score--from judges at a music festival presented by the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association (SCSBOA). It is the seventh straight year both groups earned superiors at the competition.

It is also the seventh time the school has had a student audition and be selected for the SCSBOA middle school honor band. Nicole Krausert, an eighth-grade bassoon player in the symphonic band, became the seventh Wildcat to make the prestigious ensemble in the nine-year history of the Warm Springs band program. 

About 700 seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students auditioned for the honor band this year from schools in a region stretching from Bakersfield and Barstow south to San Diego. Only 104 students move on to the honor band--four of them bassoonists.

Nicole, 14, started playing the bassoon in sixth grade when she volunteered because that spot needed filled. Before that, she played the flute "a little," but said the bassoon has quickly become her instrument. She practices 30 minutes a day and takes private lessons, and her parents have since bought her her own bassoon.

Being selected to the honor band meant traveling to out-of-town practices on Saturdays. She recently played in a concert with the honor band.

"I was super-excited, but kind of bummed that my (twin) sister didn't make it with me," Nicole said. "We usually do everything together."

Rachel, her sister, plays the oboe and both plan on joining concert band at Vista Murrieta High School next year.

"I just like music in general and its fun to hang out with your friends," Nicole said.

To kids just starting out in band, she would say "stick with it."

"You have to memorize all the notes and fingerings, but it is worth it."

Newton said there are about 300 students enrolled in the school's band program. The symphonic band is made up of about 75 students who are the school's top musicians. They are preparing for their final concert of the year, to be held at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Warm Springs multi-purpose room at 39245 Calle de Fortuna in Murrieta. Admission is free.

Newton is proud of the students the program has produced, and said a lot of it is due to the district's support of music programs.

"If someone were to ask why the Warm Springs band is so successful, I would say it is because of this district. All of us band directors meet monthly.

"Many of these students are going on to play in high school. Music is one of the few subjects that use both sides of the brain. It is also fills a requirement they need for college."