Bernardo Yorba Middle School successfully took home all three Middle School Awards, 1st place band, 1st place color guard, and 1st place drum major from the Tustin Band Review at the Tustin Tiller Days Parade on Saturday, October 1st.

“I am so proud of our marching band taking first place. They competed against two other very talented middle school bands and won,” stated BYMS Band Director, Mrs. Rita Watson.

We interviewed many band students about how they felt about band and their performance in the parade. Nathan Le, the drum major, said to us, “I was surprised we won all three awards. The color guard captains and I were freaking out that we got first in everything . Literally, when the color guard captains and I tried to speak, it just came out as random words that don’t make sense.”

Trombone player Juliette Moore stated, “I wasn’t surprised because our band worked really hard to get to where we are at… I would say that band is great opportunity to learn new skill.” Trumpet player, Wes Sakoda told us, “I was actually very unsure because this year there was three bands participating. Many of our marchers were cut off line, so we had taken off our final score. Overall, I think our whole band was nervous.”

A saxophone player, Eric Berndt, said to us when we asked him about how much he practiced before the event, “First we had to memorize the march taking a total of three weeks. Also we had to learn how to march and follow whistle command while being able to play off the march. Currently we are still practicing as long as there is a parade or competition to attend.”

If you wish to see their performance, you can find that at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebpbIy5xAik

Thank you to Mrs. Rita Watson for teaching the band members and to the band students and colorguard members who worked hard to get to where they are. Go Matadors!