Marching Band

Marching Band

The Archbishop Riordan High School Crusader Band is proud to be the only marching band in the city of San Francisco and was recognized as the pride of San Francisco by Mayor Gavin Newsom. Created to represent the United States Marines, the band uniforms of purple and gold represent Riordan. The band is the highlight of many San Francisco parades: Columbus Day Parade, St. Patrick's Day Parade, Veteran's Day Parade, and the Chinese New Year Parade which is ranked as one of the top ten parades in the country. In the past few years, the band has traveled to Hawaii (2005) to compete in the Hawaiian Invitational in Honolulu and to Disneyland (2004, 2006, 2009) to march down Disney's Main Street. This spring, the band is looking to travel to Hawaii in Spring of 2009. ALOHA!

The vast majority of students in the marching band first picked up their instruments in their freshman year of high school going through Freshman and Intermediate Bands. After two years of practice and mastering of their instrument, students move onto the marching band. Marching band is the quintessence of teamwork, dedication, and musicianship.

After hours of marching practice and rehearsals, the marching band attends band reviews all over the bay area to compete against 40+ high schools from all over California. The Crusader Marching Band started competing in band review competitions in 2004. The band only has 4 years of competing (excluding 2006-2007) under its belt so the band is still relatively new to the marching band scene. All bands are arranged into classes based on school size from class AAA (the largest enrollment) to class E (smallest enrollment). The band is in class E but is considerably larger than a majority of bands.

Band is a great opportunity to learn about true musicianship, cooperation, teamwork, and school spirit. Whether it's cheering at games or playing at competitions its members know that they represent what it means to be a true Crusader. Members of the band also know that they represent themselves, their friends and families, and their school. Crusaders uphold good sportsmanship and are always respectful at competitions and know how to have good clean fun! Crusaders uphold the three P's:

Pride, Purpose, and Performance

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Marching Band Schedule 2008-2009

Fall 2009

August 3-7 - Band Camp

October 11 - SF Columbus Day Parade

October 17 - Santa Cruz Band Review (All Day)***

October 24 - Foothill Band Review (All Day)***

October 25 - Riordan Open House

November 8 - SF Veteran's Day Parade

November 21 - Fairfield Band Review (All Day)***

December 6 - Holiday Boutique/Concert

Spring 2010

February 27 - Chinese New Year Parade