Wesley and the Finks
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My former band, Wesley and the Finks, performing "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" during the 8th grade talent show. The band has dissolved since due to internal conflicts, but our legacy lives on.
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The Ford Mustangs
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Shortly after the collapse of Wesley and the Finks, the Ford Mustangs was formed. We started in freshman year and joined the San Marin rock band program in sophomore year. On January 23, 2020, we had a recording session for the Marin County Lobby Lounge music festival. The following video is the session.
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Poetry Slam: Acceptance
The following poem was a poem that I wrote for my 9th grade English class. Everyone in my class had to participate in a poetry slam. I presented this poem and ended up winning 1st place in the poetry slam.
Sophomore Speech: Affirmative Action
For English 10, I had to write an essay and speech about a controversial topic and present it. This is the sophomore speech. My sophomore speech advocates for affirmative action, a policy that takes race into consideration. I presented this speech and got into the top 3 in my class.
Junior Report Paper: The Middle East
For AP Language and Composition, we were required to write an essay about a controversial topic. Unlike the sophomore speech, this essay isn't a speech. However, it is also longer and more intense. In this report, I discussed American military intervention in the Middle East and why it is not beneficial.
Jazz Reflection
In the first semester of my junior year, the final in my jazz band was to write a reflection about my performance at the jazz concert in Trek Winery on December 15, 2019. I am a trombone player for the jazz combo and jazz ensemble. The following are the performances and my reflection.
Videos:
Karina - Menahan Street Band
Eatin' B-Fast - Nick Brandis
Whodunnit? - Gordon Goodwin
Alice in Wonderland - Jack Cooper
Zebrano - Andrew Neu
Overall, I believe that my performance was satisfactory and very good. I surprised myself on my ability because it went much better than I expected it to. I played with the jazz band and jazz combo on trombone. I played 5 songs, 2 for jazz combo and 3 for jazz ensemble. Playing music groups requires a significant amount of communication and collaboration. It's important to know what's happening during the performances and be ready to improvise a change. During jazz ensemble, the group lost the form at some point in all 3 songs. As a result, the director and the players had to coordinate a jump in the measures, meaning that we had to skip ahead in order to compensate for the error. We also had to add a few measures because some people came in late. Without communication, the songs would have not gone well.
Collaboration is also essential to the groups. During rehearsals, we have to work together to find and fix any errors that occur. At festivals and concerts, if we make mistakes, then we must make sure they don't happen again by talking with others. People have to talk within their section about certain parts of the song. For instance, I talked with the trombonists in my section about moving the microphone and angling it towards me so I could be heard on my solo on "Zebrano". It was a necessary collaboration that helped improve the quality of the overall song. During the jazz combo performance, there was improvised solo extension during "Eatin' B-Fast", and I had to communicate and collaborate with the other players in order to know what was going on and get back on track.
The concert went very well for me. If I had to give myself a letter grade, I would give myself a B+. I made minor mistakes here and there and got thrown off when the form was thrown off, but overall I was able to stay on track and have a lot of fun performing at the concert. With an interesting location (back room of Trek Winery) and fun songs, it was a rewarding experience.
Videos:
Karina - Menahan Street Band
Eatin' B-Fast - Nick Brandis
Whodunnit? - Gordon Goodwin
Alice in Wonderland - Jack Cooper
Zebrano - Andrew Neu
Overall, I believe that my performance was satisfactory and very good. I surprised myself on my ability because it went much better than I expected it to. I played with the jazz band and jazz combo on trombone. I played 5 songs, 2 for jazz combo and 3 for jazz ensemble. Playing music groups requires a significant amount of communication and collaboration. It's important to know what's happening during the performances and be ready to improvise a change. During jazz ensemble, the group lost the form at some point in all 3 songs. As a result, the director and the players had to coordinate a jump in the measures, meaning that we had to skip ahead in order to compensate for the error. We also had to add a few measures because some people came in late. Without communication, the songs would have not gone well.
Collaboration is also essential to the groups. During rehearsals, we have to work together to find and fix any errors that occur. At festivals and concerts, if we make mistakes, then we must make sure they don't happen again by talking with others. People have to talk within their section about certain parts of the song. For instance, I talked with the trombonists in my section about moving the microphone and angling it towards me so I could be heard on my solo on "Zebrano". It was a necessary collaboration that helped improve the quality of the overall song. During the jazz combo performance, there was improvised solo extension during "Eatin' B-Fast", and I had to communicate and collaborate with the other players in order to know what was going on and get back on track.
The concert went very well for me. If I had to give myself a letter grade, I would give myself a B+. I made minor mistakes here and there and got thrown off when the form was thrown off, but overall I was able to stay on track and have a lot of fun performing at the concert. With an interesting location (back room of Trek Winery) and fun songs, it was a rewarding experience.