Cabrillo High marching band pushes through pandemic setback to win championship bronze

In a 10-minute show themed, "Come as You Are," a total of 44 Cabrillo High musicians, members of the color guard and a drum major — stacked against 11 other top-ranking regional high school bands — performed a modern compilation of songs celebrating '90s-era grunge music that included anthem song "Come as You Are" by Nirvana, and hits by Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, all with a creative spin. 

"Because, you know, the '90s are coming back in a big way," said Cabrillo High band director Garson Olivieri, who explained that the show's theme also held greater significance for the group.

As a result of the pandemic, which Olivieri said has hampered band programs across the country, this year's incoming band members were faced with starting from scratch, reading music, settling into their instrument and gaining performance experience, all of which are typically picked up in junior high in preparation for high school band.

A number of students "started at a younger level than usual" he said. "So our approach has been just to meet them right where they are and just go from there — as in 'Come as You Are.'"

Despite a slower start to the season, Olivieri said his students, who competed in three regional shows between Oct. 16 and Nov. 13 and scored in the top 12% of schools, "performed at a very high and artistic level" during the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association championships on Saturday, Nov. 20. The band placed third in the Class 1A field show championships held at Downey High School, two years after it was canceled due to the pandemic.

"The day is the culmination of this season, where they put forth incredible effort," Olivieri said, noting that the recent bronze also represents the school's fourth time medaling and the sixth time in a row qualifying for the championships.

After a celebratory win in the face of a challenging start, the 11-year Cabrillo band director who also serves as the music teacher at Los Berros Elementary School, said the focus is to reignite excitement in the program and recruit additional musicians. He said the pandemic has impacted music programs at both the junior high and high school levels that will have long-term effects on college programs for years to come. "Ten years minimum, I think," Olivieri said.

In Lompoc alone, Olivieri said Cabrillo's marching band has dwindled from a typical 50-playing members to 33 since 2019. The goal is to bring back up that number, and it starts at the junior high level. 

"Vandenberg Middle School's seventh and eighth grade must fill their classes again," he said, adding that recruiting for Cabrillo's marching band starts years in advance.

"Buy-in is there for parents and students," Olivieri said. "And adjudicators at the championships said that our students really played with passion. That is what's needed. If you don't have that passion, then you don't have a program."