Pali’s band program faced the loss of numerous instruments following the Palisades Fire and had to adjust to a new temporary campus. Students and staff were forced to quickly respond to these issues in order to maintain the program.
Peter Ye, Pali’s visual and performing arts teacher and director of Pali bands, reached out to other schools requesting their help in replacing instruments.
“I tried to provide as many of the same resources and accessibility to equipment as we used to have before by reaching out to numerous schools,” Ye said.
Student-led fundraisers and donations from other schools including Paul Revere Middle School (Revere) and Santa Monica High School helped resolve the instrument shortage, according to Ye.
Senior and Marching Band Drum Major Mason Deguzman said that he appreciated the support from neighboring schools in supplying resources for Pali’s band program.
“Thankfully, we’ve been helped a lot by different schools,” Deguzman said. “They’ve donated [almost] all of our [new] equipment, and it’s really critical to have that.”
Junior Balam Hena, assistant drum major and saxophone player, explained how the band’s tenacity helped the group problem-solve.
“Our own persistence, [like] going out and communicating with others, helped us get new equipment and play,” Hena said.
During the three month period of virtual classes after the fires, Ye adjusted the focus of the class due to lack of instruments.
“We shifted everything to a music culture and history focus,” Ye said. “It became much more project based [with] students creating their own projects.”
Senior Nika Khalili, a pianist for Pali’s Jazz Band, explained the difficulties that came with being a band student on zoom.
“We couldn’t really play music,” Khalili said. “It’s hard to do ensemble work when everyone has a lagging internet connection.”
After navigating through the obstacles from online school, the band had to come up with a solution to another problem: the lack of a performance location.
“We’ve had to find new venues for everything,” Ye said. “Because we’ve got nowhere else to perform, most of our concerts are at Revere.”
Recently, the band continued their tradition of the annual Harvest Concert at Revere, rather than their typical location in Mercer Hall.
Khalili described the challenges of hosting the Harvest Concert at a new location.
“It was very chaotic,” Khalili said. “We assumed there would be keyboards at Revere since they have a band program, but we couldn’t find any until the very last second.”
Even though numerous issues arose from the fires, the band was given unique outlets for their music.
“[We’ve been] given a lot more opportunities,” Deguzman said. “We got to perform at the Hollywood Bowl with [the LA Philharmonic] and Christina Aguilera… That was definitely a cool experience.”
After gaining access to an actual classroom at Pali South, the band now has dedicated time to reconnect with one another.
“The band has really thrived sticking together,” Deguzman said. “We’re still putting in effort every practice.”
Ye applauded the hard word of the musicians, especially those who lost their homes in the fires.
“The students who were impacted personally are the ones that were most inspiring to me,” Ye said. “They’re the ones who really had to put a lot into it, and they’re glad to be making music together.”
