El Rancho High marching band performs at the Rose Bowl

Every year, UCLA hosts “Band Day,” where high school marching bands are able to practice and perform with the UCLA marching band during halftime at of a UCLA football home game.

The day starts off with practice between UCLA band members and high school bands at the Rose Bowl. In order to receive such an opportunity, high school bands in Southern California were required to submit photos and videos showing off their musical ability.

It is no surprise that El Rancho marching band was able to impress the judges and get the chance to attend Band Day 2015. El Rancho’s marching band prepared for Band Day by attending practices and learning new pieces such as “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars, “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift and also the well-known UCLA Fight Song. All the pieces were practiced and were later performed at halftime for the UCLA vs. BYU game on Sept. 19.

El Rancho marching band impressed many UCLA staff members with their professionalism and passion for music.

El Rancho senior Angie Valentino says, “It was a new experience and it just shows how great our band department is to be able to perform with the UCLA band.”

Ultimately, the El Rancho band came back feeling amazing about their unique opportunity. Junior Brandon Rodriguez says, “It was amazing to perform in front of thousands of people, hearing the audience cheer and clap to the Fight Song was really fun. It is one of my best memories.”