From: Tom Faria

When you are 24 years old and newly married, you never know what direction life will take you.  When Los Banos High School hired me as a "Vocal Music Teacher to help with the Band," I really did not know where it all would lead.  Bertha and I moved here in August of 1985 and I began teaching that September.  I sought to create a choral music program that would benefit as many children as possible, including any children of our own that we would have.   25 years and thousands of students later (including our own two daughters), I am still constantly learning, expanding the music program, and developing my students' knowledge and skills (along with my own).

In December of 1996 we performed our first Messiah concert to a very full St. Joseph Catholic Church, and we have performed it every other year ever since.  The next day people were calling local radio talk shows to praise our students' accomplishments.  (The 2004, 2006, and 2008 performances all took place in the new high school Multi-Purpose Room.)   Lorraine Murphy, a violinist in the Merced Symphony, helped me organize our first orchestra, which included college sophomore, Dustin Soiseth on trumpet, who has since gone on to become director of the Stanislaus State Symphony Orchestra, and who played trumpet for us last week. 

Daniel and Katrina Ijams (my old college roommate and his wife) also played in that orchestra, and continued to play for us until 2008.  Local English teacher, Ivan Albertson, was also in our original Messiah orchestra, and continued to play for us until a couple of years ago.   Our cellist since 2000 has been the famous Ira Lehn, who was Professor of Cello and Dean of the Conservatory of Music at University of the Pacific when I was a student there.   Local physician Dr. Donald Carter has been playing contrabass for us since 2008; and local luthier, Wes Wing, since 2004.  (Sadly, one of our regular orchestra players, Stanislaus State bassoon professor Robert Danziger, passed away last year.) 

Guest vocal soloists for our Messiah concerts have included Debra Kauffman, Les Stringfellow, John Mondo, Alumnae Michelle Villalta, Kara Benton and Erin Accardo Sharbrough.  Student soloists have included Nathan Glenn, Krista Johnson, and Vanessa Lovato.   

Over the years, we have performed other major works: with orchestra: Bach Cantata #4, Christ lag in Todesbanden  (with Gary Wulbern and Elliot Whitehurst on trombone) Schubert Mass in G (twice), and my arrangement of 22 holiday carols, "Holiday Celebration," which we perform every other December (Another college friend and his wife, Ken and Amy Taylor, have been playing this set for us since its debut in 2001).    

We started our choir program with one high school choir and a great deal of elementary classroom vocal/general music throughout the district.   In our second year, we added Junior High Chorus, and in our third, we revived the Los Banos High School A Cappella Choir (the advanced choir at the time).  In 1999, a group of dedicated singers asked me to form the Chamber Singers, an even more advanced group, and to take them to the San Luis Obispo Choral Festival.  We put in the course request at the high school, and it was accepted. That began the tradition of our annual SLO festival trip, which has included impromptu performances at Old Mission San Luis Obispo Church and Hearst Castle. Since their inception, the Chamber Singers have distinguished themselves locally and in festivals throughout the state.  Straight "A's" numerous times at SLO, a Unanimous Superior at UC Santa Cruz in 2003, and a plaque for Outstanding Performance at San Luis Obispo in 2005.

Now we will be opening a new high school, with a whole new facility and set of programs.  My hope is that our next quarter century will be as fulfilling as our first.

Tom Faria