CONCERT BAND, SYMPHONIC BAND AND WIND ENSEMBLE
Southridge Wind Ensemble — 2019 OSAA Championships
Three ensembles comprise Southridge High School’s concert ensemble curriculum that meet during the regular school day. The Southridge Concert Band is composed primarily of freshmen musicians new to the high school experience and constitutes the first step in the student’s high school band tenure. Following Southridge Concert Band, students typically progress to the Southridge Symphonic Band to study more advanced concepts and literature and stretch their capabilities to the next level. The Southridge High School Wind Ensemble is an audition-only ensemble that features Southridge High School’s most advanced instrumental musicians and is the pinnacle of the Southridge concert ensemble experience. All three concert ensembles perform several concerts throughout the school year. The Southridge High School Wind Ensemble also competes at OSAA sanctioned Wind Ensemble competitions within the region each school year.
Wind Ensemble auditions are conducted in the spring for the following school year, with periodical auditions conducted throughout the school year. Although the majority of the Wind Ensemble is comprised of seniors, juniors and some sophomores, it is not entirely uncommon for freshmen to audition for and be placed in Symphonic Band or Wind Ensemble based on their abilities. Incoming freshmen are encouraged to audition if they feel that either Symphonic Band or Wind Ensemble would be a better fit for them than Concert Band.
JAZZ BAND
Southridge Jazz Band — 2019 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival
Southridge High School has two jazz bands as part of our total band program: Jazz 1 and Jazz 2. These classes are taught before school as a Zero-Period course, with students earning credit as they would for classes taught during their Periods 1-7 classes. Jazz 1 is auditioned, and consists of either the full standard “big band” instrumentation (2 Alto Saxes, 2 Tenor Saxes, 1 Bari Sax, 4-5 Trumpets, 4-5 Trombones, Guitar, Piano, Bass, and Drum Set), or the “Little Big Band” instrumentation (1-2 Alto Saxes, 1-2 Tenor Saxes, 1 Bari Sax, 1-2 Trumpets, 1-2 Trombones, Guitar, Piano, Bass, and Drum Set) contingent on student interest and instrumentation. Jazz 2 is non-auditioned, and all students are welcome to join regardless of whether or not they play a traditional jazz band instrument. When there is just one instructor, Jazz 1 and Jazz 2 alternate rehearsal days every other day. When there are two instructors, Jazz 1 rehearses every day, and Jazz 2 rehearses every other day. Both jazz bands perform in several “home” concerts and at “away” festivals throughout the school year. Auditions for Jazz 1 typically occur within the first few weeks of the school year.
MARCHING ENSEMBLE
The Southridge Marching Ensemble consists of students performing on woodwind and brass instruments, marching percussion (battery/drumline), stationary percussion (Front Ensemble), and in the color guard through dance, flags, rifles, and sabres. Our Marching Ensemble represents Southridge High School at home football games, marching band festivals, and local parades. Marching Season begins in the month of August with a two-week long band camp at SRHS, and concludes by the first week of November. During the school year, the marching ensemble rehearses twice weekly from 6pm-9pm and on select Fridays when there is no home football game. Festivals occur on Saturdays and are all-day events.
All students in the Southridge Band Program are welcome and encouraged to participate in the Southridge Marching Ensemble (for an additional fee and time commitment). All students – and their respective band classes – benefit immensely from the skills that are covered during marching ensemble season. This is one of the few ensembles at SRHS where every student gets to participate and perform together, regardless of grade in school. There are no auditions to be a member of the marching ensemble. However, some positions such as, but not limited to, Drum Majors, Section Leaders, Battery/Drumline, Lead Marimba, and Rifle/Sabre (color guard) are auditioned. Typically, freshmen and sophomore members work their way up to these positions over their years of membership.
Marching Ensemble is also open to 8th-grade students at our feeder middle schools (Whitford, Conestoga, and Highland Park) that live in the SRHS attendance area. This is also true for students in grades 8-12 that live in the SRHS attendance area but attend option schools such as ACMA (Arts & Communication Magnet Academy), BASE (Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering), Community School, Early College High School, ISB (International School of Beaverton), the Rachel Carson Environmental Science Program, and the Terra Nova Science & Sustainability Program, as these schools do not have their own marching band programs. Membership is also open for students attending private schools or who are home-schooled but live in the SRHS attendance area.
INDOOR PERCUSSION
Southridge Indoor Percussion – 2016 Sherwood Showcase
Once the Marching Ensemble season is over, students have the opportunity to participate in our Indoor Percussion program. This allows for percussionists and front ensemble students within the Marching Ensemble to continue to build skills that will translate to the Marching Ensemble in the following year. Indoor Percussion also provides students with no percussion experience the opportunity to learn a new instrument as no experience is necessary to join!
PIT ORCHESTRA
Disney’s The Little Mermaid – 2019 – Part of Your World
Each spring, the Southridge High School theater, choir, and band departments produce a musical theater production performed on the auditorium’s main stage.
The Pit Orchestra is an audition-only ensemble composed of woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, piano, and synth that performs the show music live with each performance. Pit Orchestra is a LOT of fun and students can earn over 100 hours of service learning credits for participating. Recent performances include Disney’s The Little Mermaid, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Addam’s Family, Big Fish, Monty Python’s Spamalot and Shrek.
BASKETBALL (PEP) BAND
Basketball Band (sometimes referred to as Pep Band) performs at all men’s and women’s home basketball games throughout the basketball season. This band also travels to post-season playoff venues such as McArthur Court in Eugene and the Chiles Center in Portland. A rich mix of modern and classic rock, jazz, funk, and hip-hop are played throughout the games. This is a fun and high energy band that students love.
COLOR GUARD AND WINTER GUARD
Southridge Winter Guard – 2018 NWAPA Championships
The Southridge Color Guard and Dance Ensembles offers a unique and varied dance education to its students. Competing with the Marching Ensemble in the fall as the Color Guard is a major component of this ensemble. At the conclusion of the Marching Ensemble season, the ensemble has the ability to perform on its own during the Winter Guard season. In both instances, dance is the foundation of these ensembles. Various dance disciplines are studied and incorporated into these performances including ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop. Strength conditioning, Pilates and yoga are also employed throughout the program. Southridge offers one or two high school units and one middle school unit each year.