The famed Fairfax Band in 1982 when it won the City Championship. |
Fairfax High School, one of LAUSD’s most storied music programs from its very inception, has for nearly 25 years been bereft of a viable orchestra, concert or marching band – until today.
New music instructor for the school, West Hollywood’s Ray Vizcarra, took over the program in February of 2006 with the second semester. “When I got here there was no music program at all, only music history was taught in this band room,” Mr. Vizcarra said as he adjusted music stands and placed instruments in their cases. “Just desks,” he said, “no instruments, no bands; the class was a dumping ground for students no other teachers wanted in their classes.”
He treated them with dignity, he said, and asked them to learn and then interested them in doing it. “They’re really all great kids, if a little misunderstood,” he said. “If they are treated with respect they respond, because often it’s because they feel disrespected everywhere else that they end up dumped into music history or worse.”
Needless to say, Mr. Vizcarra rid the space of the desks so that he could have band practice. “We’ll begin with a marching band because it’s our first year and not everyone has recent experience in performing in a band. Marching bands are good because they boost school spirit [Nike sponsors Fairfax’s football team, a contender for city champion last four years, but the team and cheerleaders lack a band].
Some of the graffiti on the band room’s floor in February 06. By Ray Vizcarra. |
“Marching bands are great because everyone, regardless of their skill level, can participate,” he said. “I can write arrangements of the tunes the kids are listening to right now – I already started asking kids in the hall; I think they think I’m a little nuts – and give them something to play that they can identify with and around to boost school spirit.”
Mr. Vizcarra is well liked around campus for his enthusiasm and approachability. Recently graduated from college with a Music Instruction degree from Fresno State and holding his first teaching position, he exudes enthusiasm for the program’s future. “We were cleaning up around the office – you should have seen the mess; graffiti everywhere, the place hadn’t been used as anything but a classroom for over a decade, and we found this!”
He pulled from a cabinet a pile of photographs, some of which dated back to the 1930s of the Fairfax High School music program, published here for the very first time. “I found these photos of the Fairfax Band winning the City Band Championship in 1982, the year the uniforms I have now were bought,” he said.
The 1982 Marching Band in mid-performance. The uniforms the Lions have today date from this year. |
In the packet were programs from the 1950s with long performances by both the School Orchestra and the School Concert Band and Chorale. Yearbooks made note of the music program’s splendor and importance to the community’s social fabric. Then, around 1988, funding for music programs all over the state began to take its toll and the Fairfax band collapsed, the band room converted to a music history classroom and the uniforms hung up – mothballed.
Nearly 20 years later Mr. Vizcarra shows up with a deep desire to build a program, ignorant of the storied historic and traditional foundation on which he could build. “I couldn’t decide what to call the marching band once I decided we could field one,” he said, “Fairfax Marching Band would leave out the color guard, which is a very important part of the entire performance.
“So I decided that we would come out like Lions and be the Fairfax Marching Lions. It suits our aggressive approach to adding to the Fairfax high legacy,” he said. “These photos, I’m going to put together into a collage to show the students the history and tradition of the music program and post it prominently for them to look over. They should know what standards we look for them to exceed.”
Ray Vizcarra, Fairfax High’s music teacher, blowing a few notes on his trombone. By Ryan Gierach. |
The band members who signed up and have little or less recent experience in a marching band have already begun their summer rehearsal schedule at the band room, according to Mr. Vizcarra, who happens to be partnered to West Hollywood City Council member Jeffrey Prang. “I’m also beginning the advanced class, but that takes a little longer because it’s a new thing to them. I’m calling them all to remind them of the rehearsal schedule,” he said, “but a lot of them are not home, maybe on family vacation.”
He expects to have the entire performing unit, including the band AND the 50-member color guard, in full swing before the week-long band camp scheduled for August 28 – Sept. 1, in time for the football team’s first set of pep rallies leading up to their Sept. 8 kick-off game.
Although the atmosphere of enthusiasm remains palpable, Mr. Vizcarra has several worries that gnaw at him, not the least of which is equipment and a lack of it. “We have a lot of uniforms, but they were made for kids 25 years ago,”
he said. “Kids have gotten much bigger in that time and I have these guys almost twice my size who could never fit into the largest of the jackets.”
Another problem is with color guard equipment. “When word got out we would have a marching band 50 girls came to me to join the color guard. We didn’t plan on a color guard until they asked for one,” he chuckled. “But we only have two, yes, only two, flag poles and no sabers or rifles for them.”
He had been promised a major sponsor, a local business with ties to the community, to cover the $25,000 cost of outfitting the Guard, but that firm backed out. “Now we need some way to get flags and poles, some rifles and a few sabers so we can outfit the kids properly,” he said. He encouraged any businesses who might be interested in a sponsorship deal akin to the one the football team has with Nike to contact him at the school by calling (323) 651-5200, the school’s main line, and asking for him - Ray Vizcarra.
To help defray the costs of outfitting the band, Mr. Vizcarra has scheduled a number of recital benefit programs at which he’ll play in the Fairfax High School Auditorium on August 24th at 8:00 p.m. “In part I’m doing it to keep my ‘chops up,’” he said, “but also because it’s an opportunity to help finance these expenses. We need the uniforms and the flags to instill a sense of belonging and pride in the kids.”
The 1982 Los Angeles City Champion Fairfax Marching Band in procession before their glittering trophies and awards. |
There stands one other hurdle that our local Marching Lion leader needs help overcoming – teaching the color guard how to perform on the field. “I played trombone on the field, so don’t have as much experience in the choreography as I’d like,” he acknowledged. “If one of your readers has some color guard experience in their background and would like to volunteer to teach some high school kids, well, it’d be great,” Mr. Vizcarra said. “You could call me at the same number to talk about it.”
The Fairfax Marching Lions, hopes Mr. Vizcarra, will one day boast a field presence of 120 strong. “We could easily field a 60-piece band and 40-strong guard within a few years,” he asserted enthusiastically. “The kids are starved by the system of any of the fun and thrill of school spirit. There are tensions in the student body that music – their own music – can help to smooth over. We can make the school a much better place by having a band.”
He feels strongly that a teacher caring about something infects the student body with that sense of caring, so the first thing he did was to rid the floors and walls of graffiti and to paint. He also applied A huge LIONS to the rear wall of the room. “We will get funding for new uniforms,” which he showed WeHoNews.com pictures of from a catalogue, “ and we’ll build the program so that every kid wants to get into it,” he said.
“We’ll be at every school function, basketball games, football games, events, pep rallies, school assemblies, all to help instill spirit in the school and to downplay the differences they kids bring to school that result in the tensions on campus.”
If you wish to see Fairfax School spirit succeed, or simply want to positively impact a young person’s life, and you have some color guard or marching band experience,
please contact Ray Vizcarra by calling Fairfax high school at (323) 651-5200.
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