IMAGE: The combined bands of Mira Loma, Arcade, and Winston Churchill, conducted by Mrs. Pool, captured by Andrew Tran
On October 29, 2025, Mira Loma’s Honors Concert band, led by Mrs Sonia Takanikos and Ms Tanya Vasquez-Gomez, joined forces with Arcade and Winston Churchill Middle Schools, led by Mrs Donna Pool and Mr Ryan Antillon, for a spooktacular performance. Notably, this concert also featured the choir, which was accompanied by Mrs. Jill Sorenson.
This concert marked the first concert of the 2025-2026 school year for all schools attending. Parents and students were both excited to hear the wonderful pieces presented by the students’ hard work and dedication before the concert.
As it was the fall/Halloween concert, students and faculty were encouraged to dress in their costumes to show spirit and tradition while receiving candy at the end as a reward for a brilliant performance!
(IMAGE) Mira Loma Choir – Captured by Andrew Tran
The choir kick-started the concert with their amazing voices singing One Minute Madrigal, Spooky Scary Skeletons, I’m Seein’ Things as Night, and Halloween is Finally Here. The choir, as always, amused the guests with their beautiful sections of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. We’re proud to hear the wonderful voices representing Mira Loma, accompanied by Jill Sorenson!
Arcade Middle School was up next. They performed a commemorative piece to Mira Loma that symbolized the Matador named Plaza De Toros by Michael Story. This piece is symbolic of the matador’s fighting spirit while illustrating the musical ambition and quality of Story’s brilliance. Then, Arcade performed Mystic Dance by Michael Sweeney. This piece demonstrated the musicality of Arcade and how harmonic they sound as an ensemble. These two pieces couldn’t have been more excellent without Mrs. Pool’s leadership and guidance!
The Phantom of the Opera Medley by Johnnie Vinson, performed by Winston Churchill Middle School, thrilled the audience with exceptional skill and flair from the bulldogs. This medley was a showcase of dramatic contrasts featuring rich brass fanfares, delicate woodwind solos, and captivating percussion that illustrated the tragic story of the Phantom through music and the talent of Mr. Antillon’s wonderful band!
Following the middle school performances, the Mira Loma Percussion Ensemble performed Toby Fox’s Dark World. This piece combines all aspects of percussion into a rich and satisfying musical experience.
(IMAGE) Mira Loma’s Honors Concert Band, conducted by Mrs. Takanikos – Image taken by Andrew Tran
To end the individual school performances, the hosts, Mira Loma, performed three pieces to lead into the collaborative pieces that followed. First, Mira Loma performed the march, The Black Horse Troop by John Philip Sousa. Then, the band led by Ms. Vasquez performed The Haunted Carousel by Erika Svanoe, a piece highlighting the spookiness of music. This piece included verbal screams and dialogues like “She fell off the carousel.” Notably, The Haunted Carousel helped spotlight the spooky tone that was amplified with the final Mira Loma piece of The Nightmare Before Christmas by Danny Elfman, arranged by Michael Brown, which put the audience on the edge of their chairs in admiration and astonishment at the band’s high-quality musicianship expressed throughout the piece.
(IMAGE) Ms. Vasquez and the Mira Loma Honors Concert Band
As this was a concert spotlighting the success of all three schools, there were two combined pieces led by the middle school teachers. The first piece performed by the combined ensemble was Scream by Randall Standridge, conducted by Mr. Antillon! This piece, like many others, had a dramatic and enthusiastic twist to it, which highlighted the Aztec Death Whistle and the wonderful agonizing scream integrated within the music. Students and parents enjoyed the satisfaction and amount of fun throughout the piece! For the closer, Mrs. Pool led the Music from Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt, arranged by Michael Brown. As this was an amazing close for the combined ensemble, all students gave over one hundred percent to make this closer memorable while setting the optimistic tone of the brilliance of every one of the band students. Pirates of the Caribbean proved to the crowd that, within highly energetic pieces, there’s always something that stands out that can’t be achieved from an individual standpoint. This is the sense of an ensemble collectively working together to play what’s beyond the pages of notes.
(IMAGE) The combined performance of Scream conducted by Mr. Antillon
All in all, the fall concert marked the beginning of all music programs’ high-quality performances. Students from Mira Loma thank all parents, faculty/administration, and the wonderful teachers who made this event possible. Mira Loma would also like to extend a warm thank you to Mrs Sonia Takanikos for her dedication and hard work in planning and coordinating this concert! Mira Loma has optimism and the aspiration to achieve accomplishments beyond music. Being a part of the music program is not only about playing the music, but it’s also about being a part of a family dedicated to working together to achieve wonderful things musically. Attitude is Everything!
Mira Loma High School will be having a winter concert and hopes to feature even more groups and performances to close out the year on a jolly note!
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