GALT, CA (MPG) - Students and their families crowded into the multipurpose room at Vernon E. Greer Elementary School on March 13 eager to hear performances from Galt elementary and middle school students in the annual Galt Music Showcase.

The showcase gathers the bands and choirs from around Galt Joint Union Elementary School District for a collective concert.

Each group had a chance to show off their skills individually. Starting the concert off this year was the recently- formed Greer Elementary Handbell Choir.

Music teacher Mary Pizzicara led Marengo Ranch Elementary School’s musicians; Curtiss Wright conducted Lake Canyon and River Oaks elementary schools; Jessica Hill led Greer Elementary; Omar Anzaldua conducted Valley Oaks Elementary School; and Arianne Aguilera led Robert L. McCaffrey Middle School.

The concert also included a few collective pieces, performed in unison by all the bands or all the choirs. The bands played a Brazilian Carnival song, “Mama Paquita,” and the choirs sang the uplifting “Give Us Hope” by Jim Papoulis and the energetic “Catch the Rhythm” by Teresa Jennings.

Aguilera, the McCaffrey music teacher, told the Herald that the showcase’s major benefit is “the experience for the kids to get to play together with such a big group.”

“When you hear your own sound mixed with sound from so many other either instruments or voices, it’s just a really unique experience and I really like just getting the whole community together,” Aguilera said.

The effort “involves a lot of coordination” between the district’s five music teachers, according to Aguilera. 

She also noted the district’s support for the event. She especially thanked David Myers, who oversees the district’s warehouse and delivery, for moving the copious equipment needed to accommodate the performance.

Laura Corwin and Alayna Crandell both have daughters at Greer Elementary with a full slate of music: band, choir and handbell choir.

“They’ve had a lot of practicing and I know they’ve been excited but also nervous because this is first time they’ve had a band in a couple of years, at least here at (Greer),” Corwin said.

The two said their children were motivated to join the music programs to be with their friends and to satisfy a love of music.

“I’m proud of them. They did really well,” Crandell said. 

Corwin agreed, saying she was excited to see their children perform in front of such a large audience.

Aguilera said her “ultimate dream” for the showcase would be to expand it to include the broader community, not just students’ family and friends, “just to show off what the youth of Galt are working on, positive things that the kids in Galt are doing.” H