Frequently Asked Questions

Parents and families generally sit in the section next to the Band. The Jaguar Pride Marching Band performs the half-time show when at home, and the pre-game show when away. During the games, whenever the band plays the school fight song we all stand. You’ll recognize this song before long. Band members are required to stay through the entire football game. As the marching season progresses, we often will review our performance after the game. If you are providing the ride home, please allow time after the game for your student to check in view the performance.

Yes. For adults, this is $6 for home games. Student prices are less (with ID), and away games differ depending on the school. Please bring CASH because most facilities do not take credit cards.

We respectfully ask that you refrain from talking to the band during the football games, as it can causes the band members to lose focus. Band members already know this rule, and we ask you to honor it as well.

We ask that you silence your cell phones and that you refrain from using flash photography during the performance. Please enter and exit the auditorium only during the applause breaks. As you probably already know, it is customary and considered good concert manners not to applaud between movements or sections of a piece, but rather to hold your appreciation until the completion of the entire artistic work. Solo performers will generally be recognized after the end of the piece.

Your band student is responsible for properly hanging the uniform after each performance. The uniforms are kept at school at all times. Parent volunteers are needed after each game (home and away) to assist the students with hanging and storing the uniforms. There is never any eating or drinking (except water) while in uniform. Our uniforms are machine-washable and we will ask for parent volunteers at the end of the marching season to take home a few uniforms, wash and return them.

Ratings by the judges at Band Days are based on nationally-accepted music education standards. These are: I Superior II Excellent III Good

Generally, yes. Regional and State honor bands ask a small fee for their concerts, generally about $5. This offsets the costs of a well-known conductor and top-notch clinicians.

To perform in the marching show and concert festivals, the band member must travel with the band to the event. The students should preferably also return with the band. Marching band members turn in their uniforms at the band room upon arrival. After concert festivals, the staff reviews the performance with the band members. If a rare situation arises where a student cannot return with the band, you must contact Mr. Burrola via email at least 24 hours in advance.  This performance will be excused, but if a student does not inform Mr. B ahead of time about anything that they have known about prior, their grade will be affected.  NO EXCEPTION

The auditions, which are closed to the public, are usually held on a Friday night and all day Saturday in mid-to-late January, at various locations. The calendar will be updated when time and location details are known. During the auditions, a group of judges sit behind a screen so that they do not know the identity of the student. Auditions traditionally consist of scales, three etudes, and sight-reading.

The Solo and Ensemble Festival runs concurrently with the Regional Honor Band auditions. The calendar will be updated when time and location details are known. The public is invited to attend the Solo and Ensemble portion. Judges need an ORIGINAL copy of the music so they can follow along. Soloists are reminded that they must furnish their own accompanist, live or recorded. Medals are awarded for performance.

Instruments loaned to you by the school need to go to Mr. B for repair.  For instruments that you own, we recommend you work with the following merchants for your instrument repair and maintenance needs. For the cost, timeliness, and quality of the repairs, we highly recommend:

Milano Music Center

Fair Share is required for ALL band students: concert, marching and guard. Winter guard will have its own fair share in addition. 

Fair share includes but it not limited to:

• Music licensing for the marching band show each year
• July / August Camp costs and instruction
• Band t-shirt to wear under uniform (show shirt)
• Additional band and guard staff
• Competition entry fees
• Instrument purchases and repairs
• Bus transportation to and from competitions
• Operating fees including copying, solo and ensemble judges, etc.

The Arizona Public School Tax Credit is a credit to your state taxes given by the state for making contributions or paying fees directly to a public school in in Arizona for support of eligible activities.  Band and guard are eligible activities and money used to pay for fair share can be claimed as a tax credit when you file your taxes. The maximum credit allowed is $400 for married filing joint filers and $200 for single, heads of household and married filing separate filers. Please don’t miss out on taking this tax credit.

Absolutely! We love to crowdsource images of the band. Please send an email to bandrep@bchs.band or guardrep@bchs.band and we’ll arrange something.

Do you have a child in band or guard?  Then you are a booster! We encourage you to visit our volunteers page to see how you can best join in on the fun. Check out the calendar to come to one of our booster meetings or contact us with any questions.

Visit our calendar for the most up-to-date information, but generally we try to have them on the second Thursday of each month during the school year, moving them around as necessary to accommodate other activities. Meetings are typically in the band room at 7:00pm.

We generally have a booth set up to sell shirts and other booster merchandise at every major event. You can visit our online store or you can contact the Booster board members.

A directory of past Booster meeting minutes can be found here.