Ms. Stacey Barta has worked passionately with students for 6 years now in Fairmont, and all of her students have formed a very strong bond among each other. Kaylea Ho, a tuba and a baritone player, is a Senior who has been part of Band for her four high school years in Fairmont. She says, “The music program has taught me so many valuable things that I would never have gotten the chance to if I did not join Band. It was a challenging yet such memorable experience that will always stay in my heart. Throughout the four years, I have always felt as if I had a second ‘family’ at school, and Ms. Barta has been my second ‘mom.’” All of the students in the music program are thankful to be a part of this powerful, passionate group in which they learn to work towards success as a whole. They learn to work together as a team and to voice their opinion to make improvements, which normal high school students usually do not experience during their four intense school years.
Last year, Fairmont Music traveled to Hawaii in April to compete. Not only did the students worked extremely hard in fundraising to grab this opportunity to go and compete in Hawaii, but they also put a lot of effort into their practice and numerous rehearsals. Instead of the director telling them to practice and demanding rehearsals, the students themselves came up with their own rehearsal days during the week and willingly gave up their lunch periods to rehearse. When they went to Hawaii, their work paid off as they returned to California with trophies.
This year, Fairmont Music has been invited to perform at the London Festival of Music in April. The students are currently busy fundraising and rehearsing. Even though sometimes they feel challenged and worn out, they always remind each other their motto: we step together as one, we breathe together as one, and we play together as one.
