Meet the Director

Parent support of our students is vital to the success of these wonderful young adults, and this program cannot happen without parent support and volunteers. There is no better encouragement than for the student to know they are supported by friends and family! Attend home football games when the Marching Band & Color Guard are performing their show at halftime. Come to competitions and wear Booster Red! We love to have parents come and watch Tuesday night practices at the football field from 5-9 pm. It is always fascinating to watch the kids go through the rehearsal process and be able to find your student on the field out of uniform (because it can get really tricky when they are all dressed up!). 

The Concert Ensembles consist of Wind Ensemble, Orchestra Winds, and String Orchestra, and are part of the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association  (SCSBOA). Students enroll in year-long classes that perform around four concerts a year in the MVHS Performing Arts Theater as well as at various festivals in the spring. Festivals offer the opportunity to showcase a high standard of performance and receive adjudication by trained and qualified experts in music education, encouraging the development of each soloist, ensemble, and performing organization. Our concert ensembles have also performed in several world-renowned venues such as the Segerstrom Center, and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Colorguard is more than a form of dance, but rather a control of the body, and use of equipment with choreography to enhance the visual effects of a Marching Band show. During the winter and early spring, the Color Guard competes indoors and is known as Winter Guard. This auditioned group is similar to outdoor Color Guard, except the performances are indoors on gymnasium floors and the traditional marching band music is replaced with recordings of music. The gymnasium floor typically is covered by an individually designed tarp (typically called a "floor'). The performers often compete barefoot, but wearing jazz shoes or modern dance shoes is also common practice. The colorguard is under the direction of Mr. Robby Jacobson, who also is a colorguard technician for the world-class Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps.

Under the direction of Mr. Roger Carter, the percussion caption head of the world-class Drum Corps, The Bluecoats, winter drumline is simply the battery (snare drums, bass drums, quads, and cymbals), as well as the front ensemble (xylophone, marimba, and vibes), put in a gym, marching on the floor and running around playing drums, putting on a story through drumming and theatrical performance, and is marching band without the horns or colorguard, and just the drumline, showing off musical and visual talent. The Mission Viejo High School Winter Drumline competes at various venues in the Southern California Percussion Alliance (SCPA) circuit as well as the Winter Guard International (WGI) Percussion Championships. Our drumline is a 2-time WGI World Champion as well as a 12-time SCPA Gold Medalist.

The Mission Viejo High School Jazz Band is comprised of musicians from all grade levels who audition to earn a place in this highly-talented band of approximately twenty players. Under the direction of Diane Lee, jazz performances move beyond the traditional stage to also Include a cabaret-style Jazz Night In December and Jazz under the Stars In June. At these performances, the Jazz Band plays a variety of jazz, including swing, Latin, modern and many "big band" standards. Much of the music played approaches college level in its complexity.

There are a number of ways to be involved with the Instrumental Music program, from one-time commitments to a year-long position on the MVHSIMBA Boosters Board. You can choose to volunteer from home, at events, or any combination that fits with YOUR schedule.