COLORING THE WORLD WITH MUSIC
COLORING THE WORLD WITH MUSIC
By Elizabeth Nguyen
We’re riding our bikes 430 miles from UCLA to Oak Grove High School to raise money for the kids. Do you want to come with us?”
Chris Moura is the band director for the award-winning Oak Grove High School Marching Band and Color Guard. He’s been training almost daily in preparation of the grueling ride.
He has been the director of the music program at Oak Grove, a Title I school, for three decades. This year, the band received less than $200 from the East Side Union High School District to run its music program. The high school has a total of 94% BIPOC enrollment, with 63% of students receiving free and reduced lunches. From 1995 to 2000, my brother and I had fit into both those categories.
““The high school has a total of 94% BIPOC enrollment, with 63% of students receiving free and reduced lunches.””
“The band is a cross-section of the school’s population,” he said. “A lot of these parents work two or three jobs to give their kids a better life. Many of these kids don’t have the opportunity to do things like club sports. These kids find another home here. It’s a family.”
I spent a majority of my high school life in the band and volunteering with friends. Looking back, our shared struggle bonded us closer than family. It was this escape from my mundane filial life that taught me discipline, time management, teamwork, resilience and flexibility.
“You remember what being in the band was like,” he said to me as my mind flashes back to endless pushups and parades. “It doesn’t matter if you're the best player or a beginner. Everyone’s a starter, no one gets benched.” Bands continue to compete from all throughout the Bay Area at Independence High School on the Eastside, and that culture of family, hard work, and belonging remains ever present.
““It doesn’t matter if you’re the best player or a beginner. Everyone’s a starter, no one gets benched.””
Being in the marching band gave me opportunities that seemed out of reach at the time. It gave me the opportunity to participate in about 200 performances during my entire high school career. One of these opportunities allowed me to have my first international travel experiences to perform in the Paris Holiday Parade and the London New Year’s Day Parade.
The marching band and color guard has the opportunity to once again perform in the London New Year’s Parade this winter. Two local efforts with lots of heart have put in so much work to raise funds for severely underfunded band programs:
The Ride 4 Moura Music Fundraiser recently held a fundraiser with the goal of raising $30,000 to provide for this and other performance opportunities, including supplies for equipment, musical instrument repair and care, transportation, uniforms, and auxiliary supplies. The five- day ride began at the Bruins statue on the UCLA campus and culminated at Oak Grove High School.
“It gave me the opportunity to participate in about 200 performances during my entire high school career. ”