Ponderosa High School Band

The Ponderosa High School Band program, under the direction of Instructor Mike Gunderson, has had an exceptionally successful school year thus far in competitions as well as community involvement.

The 2009–10 school year kicked off with a very successful marching season. The Marching Band performed at competitions at Oakmont, Folsom, and Lincoln High Schools, receiving three consecutive first places in their division. The color guard, under the instruction of Stephanie Gunderson, was equally successful with two consecutive first places, as well as a three-way tie for third place. Drum Major Christopher Honda was awarded with both a first place Drum Major Award and the overall Drum Major Sweepstakes at Folsom, as well as the Sweepstakes in the final competition at Lincoln.

The Ponderosa Marching Band also hosted the First Annual El Dorado County Marching Band Exhibition, and invited the Marching Bands from El Dorado and Union Mine High Schools to perform for each other and have a day of excitement and fun for all the bands. The Marching Band also served the community by performing at the Cameron Park Show 'n Shine event at the airport and the Placerville Christmas parade.

Ponderosa's Jazz Band has had an eventful year playing at many festivals and invitationals. The band played in regional jazz festivals, such as the Sac State Jazz Festival, the Folsom Jazz Festival, and the Woodcreek Jazz Festival. The Jazz Band also performed at the Fall Collage for Ponderosa students and families. They also performed with the American River College Jazz Band at the ARC Invite this past fall and at the Placerville Airport's anniversary event as a community service.

The Concert Band at Ponderosa has only begun their competition season, but they have been very active in encouraging involvement in the Ponderosa Music Program by hosting and performing at the Invitational Concert with our local middle schools, Camerado and Pleasant Grove. At the Golden Empire Festival, the Concert Band scored an Excellent rating, and is hoping for an equally successful performance at the upcoming Heritage Festival. The Symphonic Band, which is composed of members from the Marching Band following the end of marching season, has also been active in encouraging middle school students to continue being a part of the music program when they reach high school. The Symphonic Band invited Camerado Middle School's band to Ponderosa to spend the day playing songs and showing the students that they can continue to pursue their music once in high school. As for competition, the Symphonic Band scored a Superior rating at the Golden Empire Festival, and is working hard for their performance at the Heritage Festival alongside the Concert and Jazz bands.

The Winter Percussion Ensemble, Ponderosa's newest band program of 2 years, had an outstanding season. Under the direction of Glen Sabado, and instructors Santiago Sabado, Rachel Taylor and Josh Luedtke, the drumline kicked off their season with a distinguished win at their first competition at Armijo. Not only did the drumline score first place in the Advanced Division, they scored higher than any other school in the division above them. As a result, the drumline was moved up to the Scholastic Division, and received a first place at the Elk Grove Competition, a second place at Del Oro, and a first place at the Winter Drumline Championships at Foothill High School. The Winter Drumline is not a scheduled class at Ponderosa and is made up entirely of students practicing and working on their own time after school and on weekends. The drumline put over 80 hours of work into their performances and have made those in the Music Program very proud of their great accomplishments. The 2009-10 school year has been a remarkable year for the Ponderosa Band Program, and everyone is hoping for an even more impressive 2010–11 school year.