La Costa Canyon High School brings student bands together for another successful Band-O-Rama concert

School bands from the San Dieguito Union High School District came together at La Costa Canyon High School on March 23 to celebrate the annual Band-O-Rama concert.

The exciting event saw bands from La Costa Canyon High School, San Dieguito Academy, Oak Crest Middle School, and Diegueno Middle School converge in the school gymnasium to perform both separately and together, according to a news release.

The event saw performances by nearly 300 students across the bands, including younger participants from Cardiff’s Ada Harris Elementary School and the Encinitas school district’s after-school music programs, who were able to participate in the opportunity.

The event was organized by LCC’s band director Charles Mekealian, who is in his third year at the school. “The point of Band-O-Rama is to bring all these groups together to just celebrate music and put on a fun performance," said Mekealian in the news release. "We have kids ranging from 4th grade right up to 12th graders.”

Incredibly, all the school bands rehearsed separately leading up to the event and only rehearsed together about an hour before showtime.

The concert commenced with string performances by the youngest bands, followed by middle schoolers playing at more advanced levels. The high schools then performed two songs, after which the middle and high schools played together. The concert culminated in all the bands performing together.

“Band-O-Rama is the biggest thing we do with all the other schools and a lot goes into this event,” Mekealian said in the news release. “I bring all the parts together with the help of my Music Booster program and the LCC admin; we also receive help from our athletics department to find a date that the gym is available.”

Mekealian added that LCC band students also play a big part: “The kids get here at 7 a.m. on the day of the event to help unload and set up tarps and chairs on the court. We have great student leadership at LCC.”

When asked what Band-O-Rama means to him personally, Mekealian points to the collaboration between the ages. “I love getting the high school groups together and the middle school groups to play with them, but my favorite part is at the end when all the groups play the same song together," he said in the news release. “The great thing is that it is written at various levels, so we have the more advanced version for high and middle schoolers and an easier version for the elementary students – many of whom have only been playing for 10-12 weeks at this point.”

Mekealian was joined by Jeremy Wuertz, who has been the music director at San Dieguito Academy since 2005. “Band-O-Rama is a celebration of the articulation of the levels,” said Wuertz in the news release. “What’s most exciting is how the elementary school kids can envision themselves moving into the future and see what’s possible if they continue.”

This story originally appeared in Encinitas Advocate .