Granada Hills : High School Band Wins Citywide Prize

In a whirlwind day of performances Saturday, the Granada Hills High School marching band captured top honors in a citywide contest in Glendale hours before playing host to a separate competition on its home turf.

The day began early at Verdugo Hills High School where the group won its third consecutive first-place award in the Los Angeles City Band and Drill Team Championships. The annual event drew 37 Los Angeles Unified School District schools, band director Al Nelson said.

“We never try to expect it,” Nelson said of the band’s multiple wins. “We just want to do the best show we possibly can.”

Later that afternoon, the 160-member band returned home where it sponsored the 14th annual Granada Hills Highlander Field Band Tournament at Bryce Schurr Stadium.

Nelson’s students performed a 12-minute medley of holiday songs at both events but did not compete in the second contest, since they were hosts, he explained.

Sixteen Southern California schools participated in Granada Hills’ contest, with the top prize going to Royal High School in Simi Valley, Nelson said.