The University High School Music Department consists of students in all grade levels and with varying levels of skill.  The department offers three levels of wind band, three levels of orchestra, two levels of jazz band, marching band (the Marching Trojan Regiment), color guard, and AP Music Theory.  The ensembles present concerts throughout the year and participate in music festivals in the spring.  The University High School Music Department is also the host of the annual Irvine Unified District Band and Orchestra Festival.  The music department provides entertainment and spirit for school sports and assemblies; and makes up the pit orchestra in the spring musical.

More than 10% of the students at Uni participate in one or more of the music ensembles.  Lasting friendships develop in the music department and flourish in the band room, where you will find many of our students spending their time on breaks or after school.  Many of our music students also have very demanding academic schedules.  These students often exceed a 4.0 GPA and are committed to being a well-rounded individual through music and the high standards that the music department demands.

The music department is committed to excellence in musical performance, ensemble teamwork, and developing students into effective and hard-working individuals.  Many of our members are accomplished musicians on and off the campus.  These students have represented Uni at the local, state, and national level of honor bands and orchestras, as well as prestigious local youth ensembles such as the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble and the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Our ensembles have traveled to San Francisco and Hawaii, where they have had the opportunity to share their music with schools from around the country at music festivals.  The Hawaii trip was a huge success, with 90 students, parents and directors traveling together to share the joy of performance and music at the 2009 Hawaii Invitational.  Hard work and a lot of fundraising made this trip possible.

The UHS Band Aides is a group of dedicated parents that support our program and directors with their time and talents.  The boosters are the backbone of the Uni Band Program – they can do it all!  They organize events, chaperone trips, join committees, build props and other essential items, communicate with the rest of the band parents, and raise money for the program.  Every person who has a student in the program is considered part of the Band Aides, and is always graciously invited to participate in making a better experience for our students.

The University High School Instrumental Music Department is proud of its history and is continually pushing towards the future.  Every year the students show more commitment, more acts of selflessness for the department, and work more diligently to raise the standards of performance.

The Bands

The wind bands at Uni are separated into three different classes that take place during the school day.  Auditions take place in late May or early June for placement into one of these ensembles for the following year.  All students are required to audition.  The three bands are separated into the Concert Band for our beginning level students, Symphonic Band for our developing intermediate level students, and the Wind Ensemble for the our advanced members.  The Wind Ensemble is the flagship ensemble of the UHS Instrumental Music Department.  A student who begins in the Concert Band has every possibility to prove themselves and progress all the way to the Wind Ensemble during their 4 years at Uni.  Each ensemble has a unique character and is fun for its membership.

The marching band, known as the UHS Marching Trojan Regiment, is comprised of all the members of the three wind bands and rehearses after school.  In order to be in the marching band you must be enrolled in one of the wind bands during the school day.  The Marching Trojan Regiment (MTR) starts rehearsals in the second half of August for what we call “band camp.”  Band Camp takes place at Uni during the day for two weeks.  During this period, students learn music basics, marching basics, and our competitive field show.  We perform this field show at home football games and at various competitions that take place around Southern California.  There are usually three to four Saturday competitions a year.

The MTR rehearses every day after school during 7^th period (please see the Fall Schedule for specific times).  Since this is a team activity, attendance is of paramount importance.  If a member is missing on the field, it makes it difficult for the members who are present to find their spots on the field.  For this reason, each member’s grade is directly and significantly connected to attendance.  The marching band season coincides with the football season. 

The color guard is a group of visual musicians that use dance, flag, rifle, and sabre to interpret the music of the marching band.  They are a key component of the MTR and perform in the field show with the band.  When the marching season is over, the color guard begins indoor performance known as winterguard.  In this activity the color guard is the main focus and performs in a gymnasium to pre-recorded music.  Each year the theme, costume, and music are different.  The color guard competes with other color guards from around Southern California.  This group receives P.E. credit and rehearses entirely after school.

The MTR has two branches of student leaders that are elected to represent and lead these ensembles.  The Band Executive Council (BEC) has delegated different responsibilities to its members to promote the community and social connection of the band members.  The BEC organizes social events and fundraisers for those events, along with many other activities.  The Student Leadership is made up of section leaders and drum majors.  These students were selected by the students and directors through a popular vote at the end of the previous school year.  Consideration is also given to a student’s musical skills and leadership abilities.

When the marching band season is over, auditions will take place for the jazz ensembles.  In order to be eligible for Concert Jazz Ensemble you must be enrolled in one of the wind bands that take place during the day (the only exceptions are guitar, bass, and piano players) and must play one of the traditional jazz band instruments (saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass, piano, or drums).  The Jazz Band, our beginning jazz ensemble, also takes place after school and accepts all instruments.  This ensemble is geared to train members to prepare for the Concert Jazz Ensemble and to provide instruction in another style of music.   

The Orchestras

The orchestras are separated into three ensembles - String Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, and Symphony Orchestra.  The String Orchestra and Concert Orchestra are string-only ensembles, while the Symphony Orchestra has a full wind and percussion section.  All three of these ensembles take place after school (please see schedule).  The String Ensemble is comprised of beginning to intermediate players.  The Concert Orchestra is made up of intermediate to advanced players, performing advanced literature from the string repertoire.  The Symphony Orchestra is comprised of advanced players.  Placement for this ensemble is extremely competitive, as this ensemble plays very difficult literature.  Auditions take place in June for the following year.  Positions for the wind and percussion section are filled by the directors and are taken from the wind audition list.  The students with the highest placement in the wind bands will be offered positions first.  You must be enrolled in one of the wind bands during the school day in order to be eligible for a post in the symphony orchestra wind and percussion section. 

8^th Graders – The Future of our department

We look forward to your arrival at Uni!  We want to help you make a smooth transition from middle school to high school. 

If you are an eighth grader and have not yet auditioned, please tell your counselor that would like to sign up for Concert Band (for band students) or String Orchestra (for string players).  This sign-up will serve as a place holder until we have selected the proper ensemble for you.  An audition is mandatory in order to be placed properly.  If you are planning on being a part of this year’s program, you MUST attend the audition date.  The directors will want to hear you play and will also have questions for you regarding your plans at Uni.  We do this to alleviate confusion in the summer about who will be joining us in the program.  All skill levels are welcome.  There is a place for everyone!  Audition music is given to the middle school directors with ample time for you to prepare for the audition date.  Please ask them for information regarding auditions.  If you are a transfer student, contact Mr. Heddon for the band audition information and Mrs. Gohn for the orchestra audition information.

All students will have to make difficult decisions about what activities to participate in during their high school years.  Freshmen student schedules can often be challenging because of the course load required.  It is important to understand that if you are committed to being a member of the band, there is always a way to make your schedule work.  The first trick to finding time for band is by joining the marching band after school.  Marching band counts as P.E. credit, which means you won’t have to take P.E. during the day.  This free period will allow you to take all required classes AND band.  Fall sports practice after school and conflict with the marching band schedule; unfortunately, students cannot be members of a fall sport and marching band.  If you are not in marching band, you will not have a free period to be in band.  This causes a dilemma for many students.  We do not allow transfers at the semester because there is too much information that you will have missed. We also highly discourage participating in the first semester and transferring to a spring sport for the second semester, as your departure will negatively affect ensemble instrumentation. 

If you would like to be in band but not in marching band, you will have to remove the foreign language class from your schedule.  If you choose this option, you can take foreign language starting your sophomore year or you can take foreign language at a local community college during the summer or as a night class for high school credit.