March 9, 2023
More than 1,000 family members gathered on March 8 at Arroyo High School to watch 300 K-12 San Lorenzo Unified School District students perform in school choirs and a middle/high school orchestra during its 72nd Annual District Music Festival.
As in years past, the event was scheduled in celebration of Music in our Schools Month, recognized nationwide each March.
Elementary students from all nine of the district’s elementary schools took the stage to sing a total of 12 songs in English and Spanish, and middle and high school musicians performed two pieces together in a joint orchestra, which included students from Arroyo and San Lorenzo high schools, as well as Edendale and Washington Manor middle schools.
A choir from East Bay Arts High School performed two songs, in English and Swahili. All the district choirs combined to conclude the 90-minute program by singing “So Long, Farewell,” from Walt Disney Records.
So many parents attended that overflow seating was needed because the bleachers in the Arroyo High gymnasium were full.
The festival, a longstanding tradition for San Lorenzo schools, returned after a three-year break because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SLZUSD Superintendent Daryl Camp welcomed and thanked the families in attendance, and he emphasized the value of music to students’ overall education.
“This opens up the world to so many students,” Camp said. “Many students are attracted to school because of one interest area, and the studies show that if a student can be interested in one thing, they’re more likely to succeed in multiple areas of education.”