Hi, welcome to the website for Mission Viejo High School Instrumental Music's Fall Projects!

Welcome to the MVHS Instrumental Music Fall Showcase:)

Thank you for coming to see what we have been doing in the instrumental music department here at Mission. Safety protocols required us to only play our instruments at home, so our performances this semester have been recorded “at home” and then assembled into complete performances. Recording is one the most demanding and most satisfying ways to perform music. Recording and listening back is essential to growth as a musician, and our players have benefitted from the process. The proof of that is in the recordings, which we are very proud of.

Here are some notes on the Wind Ensemble pieces:

There are four Brass ensemble pieces, played by the Wind Ensemble brass section. The Gabrielli and the Scheidt are from the renaissance. The Brahms is from the late 19th century, and “That’s a Plenty” is a ragtime piece that actually features Mr Hannan on the Spoons. He is terribly shy so we do not have any photos of him playing the spoons, Unfortunately.

“Afterlife” is a stunningly beautiful Band piece, and our wind ensemble played it expressively and musically. It was a true pleasure to put this one together. Nice oboe solos by Christine Fielding, and beautiful trumpet playing by Andrew Smith, and awesome horn playing by Joey Oberholzer. Great playing all the way around actually. Listen closely, over and over again.

“Green Bushes” by Percy Grainger is a very famous band piece and has some very nice tuba playing by Brice Kirk, and then the band follows with equally impressive musical playing.

Here are Some quick notes on the jazz ensemble pieces:

Jazz 2 recorded my arrangement of Mercy Mercy Mercy, which features two guitar players (Tyson Ford and Jason Coulter). We will finish another song in a few days so look for that.

Jazz 1 recorded two tunes and will also finish another is a few days. “The Perp” is a shuffle with a lot of “writing” and features Theo Thai on alto sax, Ryan Kupsch on trombone, and Caroline Volmer on trumpet. “Samantha” is a ballad that features Theo Thai again on alto sax.

Thank you for listening to our work!

Doug Meeuwsen

We are so excited to present the MVHS Instrumental Music Fall Showcase! Over the course of this semester, your students have spent countless hours learning, perfecting, and recording music. This project has been a huge learning experience for me, and I hope that it has been for your students as well. This past week, I had your students answer some reflection questions. I was encouraged to see that many of them, when reflecting on how they improved as a musician this semester, stated that they feel more comfortable practicing, developed a deeper understanding of how to analyze their part, held themselves to higher performance standards, and gained practical skills like recording themselves. That was the goal, and I'm so glad that many of your students were able to see their growth over the course of this year.

I have to admit, it has been a really tough year in music education. Not getting to see your students, hear the music that they are making, and interact with them every day has been difficult, and I know that it has been hard for them as well. I hope that by listening to these project, everyone can feel connected through the music that they made this year. While the parts were recorded in isolation, the music-making process was not in isolation.

I want to give a huge shoutout to Doug Meeuwsen. I have very minimal skill when it comes to putting together a recording project. Doug has been super patient with me, and picked up a ton of the slack. He has given me a masterclass in how to do the basics. He has worked tirelessly to help build projects that your students will be able to enjoy listening it. When my skill and knowledge reached their limit, Doug entirely took over, and made the projects sound great. Thanks Doug!

In conclusion, while this experience looked very different from a typical fall semester, my hope is that you learned something, and are able to enjoy the fruits of your toil this year. Thanks for all of your hard work, and for taking a listen!

Bobby Westphal