MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers GUIDING HANDS—Drum majors Karina Covarrubias of Royal and Nick Castellano of Simi, inset, lead their respective schools' marching bands this past week in preparation for two competitions. The 25th annual Royal Classic is tomorrow, Oct. 18, and Simi Valley's 40th Band Spectacular is the following Sat., Oct. 25. The marching bands at Royal and Simi Valley high schools are reaching significant milestones during their respective showcases this year.

The Highlanders' marching band will host its 25th Royal Classic this Saturday from 1 to 10:30 p.m.

Simi Valley's 40th Band Spectacular, the longest running high school marching band event in Ventura County, is next Sat., Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A familiar face from Royal's past will lead the band into the future. Lisa Fleming, a 2002 Royal graduate, is the school's first-year band director. Fleming, 25, led Rio Mesa High's band last year before returning to her alma mater.

"I'm really excited that it's my first Classic" as an instructor, said Fleming, who was an alto saxophone captain during her junior and senior years at Royal. "I have a lot of pride in the school, and I want to share it with other groups that are coming. The students have been working really hard, and I feel that they're very dedicated and prepared."

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers The Highlanders will perform "Genesis: A New Beginning" by David Holsinger. Each performance in both competitions must last less than eight minutes.

Schools from Ventura and Los Angeles counties will attend both the Classic and the Band Spectacular, some traveling from as far as Bakersfield.

About 25 bands are expected to perform at each showcase.

Fleming has many fond memories of the Royal Classic.

"So many bands from all over Southern California come to our school for a competition, and we really get to showcase our stadium. I always felt so much pride," she said. "My favorite job was leading bands to different stations, showing them our campus and facilities. . . . In my opinion, it's one of the best field tournaments out there. We try to be very welcoming and create positive experiences for everyone."

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers FINE-TUNING—The Simi Valley High marching band, at left, practices on the football field Wednesday evening. At right, Linzi McGuire, left, and Jennifer Cao listen to instructions during Royal's practice Tuesday afternoon in the school parking lot. One of Fleming's biggest goals is to lure more students into the program. Last year, the marching band had around 80 musicians; this year's squad has 62.

"I think the marching band's the smallest it's been in a long time," Fleming said before a Tuesday night practice. "When I was in school, we had around 95 to 100 in the marching band. . . . We're hoping to do a lot of recruiting and retention and get our band big, to the numbers it once had.

"We're small, but mighty," she added.

Simi Valley marching band director Dan Sternberg is in his fourth year guiding the Pioneers. This is also the first time that ev- ery student in the band, from freshman to senior, has been under his leadership exclusively.

"This is the first year where all the students have been taught by me," Sternberg said. "For me, that's more a personal accomplishment. This being the 40th year of the Spectacular is very significant for the school."

Sternberg, 25, graduated from Oceanside High in Long Island, N.Y., and with a degree in music education from the University of Southern California, where he played the tenor saxophone for the Trojans' marching band.

Simi Valley will perform an adaptation of "City Sketches," a show performed in 1995 by Cal State University Northridge's now defunct marching band.

Sternberg described "City Sketches" by Gary Pratt as a "funky, jazzy composition."

"It's been coming along very nicely," he said.

Sternberg takes pride in the 55-member band's focus and level of commitment.

He said fans can get a true taste of the Pioneers' talents at a home football game, where the band plays throughout the night and also performs a 20 to 30minute show after the game ends. Sternberg estimates that the students have to memorize about 45 minutes of music per home game.

MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers BIG RESPONSIBILITY—Royal High Marching Band director Lisa Fleming gives directions to band members during practice on Tuesday at Royal High. A 2002 Royal graduate, Fleming is in her first year guiding the Highlanders' 62-member marching band. The Pioneers are also excited about performing during halftime at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

The Holiday Bowl is a major postseason college football game, which will be held on Dec. 30 at Qualcomm Stadium. Thousands of high school musicians are expected to play.

Both schools, along with Santa Susana, Apollo and Grace Brethren, will participate in the Sunrise Youth Art and Music Festival at the Simi Valley Town Center on Oct. 25 and 26.

The event will feature artwork from students at the high schools and performances by marching, choral, orchestral and jazz groups.

The marching bands will perform on Sun., Oct. 26, the day after Simi's Spectacular.

This year, Sternberg has been pleased to see that his older students help the younger members of the band.

"We have great student leadership—that more anything is what I enjoy about the marching band," Sternberg said. "I don't have to have a hands-on approach all the time. That's the neatest thing, as an educator, to see the students teaching each other and doing it successfully: We won first place in our division at every competition last year."