Band participation often fluctuates, dependent upon the school and students in each class. James Loomis, the new band director, expects seniors Andrew Biehler, Anthony Wilson, Zachary Marsh and Ben Dang to lead the campus’ underclassmen-dominated group in their upcoming performances.

“My goal this year is to bring back an attitude and expectation of excellence in all that we do musically,” Loomis said. “My promise to the kids is that we will look and sound good in everything we do.”

Loomis recognizes Biehler for his dedication in both marching and jazz band. He plays alto and baritone saxophones, along with the trombone.

“Biehler goes the extra mile and has a professional outlook on band all the time,” Loomis said. “He provides leadership as a senior and has high expectations of excellence for his peers.”

Fellow band students appreciate Biehler’s ability to lead and influence others.

“I like to play music because it is fun to play with people that also enjoy it,” Daniel Hopper, ’10, said. “It is also fun to get really loud and Biehler is the loudest. I look to him as a mentor and he holds the band together. ”

Similar to most, Biehler ‘s parents wanted to enroll their children in extra-curricular activities.

“My mom forced me to play the piano when I was younger,” Biehler said. “I ended up loving it so much I decided to play in the 5th grade band and my love of music has not stopped yet.”

When away from band life, Biehler enjoys partaking in school sports; he plans to try out for the soccer team this fall and play baseball in the spring. Though the marching band is smaller than previous years, Biehler hopes for a multitude of memories and an awarding year.

“My favorite memory in band has been all the trips we have gone to such as Great America,” Biehler said. “On the other hand my worst memory was in marching band when we marched for two hours without stopping. It is worthwhile though, because I always have a great time and a lot of my friends are in band. We have a lot of fun together.”

Biehler considers a potential music career in his future.

“I am not sure what I want to do right after high school,” Biehler said. “But I am thinking of pursuing a music teaching career, it would be something I’d like to do.”

Marching band’s placed 2nd at the Caruthers Fair out of four other high school groups on Sept. 29. Alexandrah Aleman, ’10, placed 2nd as Drum Major and Jessica Massie, ’11, placed 1st as Solo Majorette.

The next band event will be at the 88th annual Fresno Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11. The parade route is in downtown Fresno and starts at 11:11 A.M. and is touted as largest Veteran’s Day Parade on the West Coast. Over 8,000 participants will march the parade route.