Sequoia High School sprang from the brow of David Starr Jordan, president of Stanford University, who suggested the idea of a high school that might prepare students for the new university. The school opened in 1895 and, interestingly, offers one of the few international baccalaureate programs on the Peninsula.
The school’s music program has a long and distinguished history. Beginning before World War I, and for nearly half a century, the program flourished under the direction of Otis Carrington, a composer who wrote more than 40 operettas for children. He also began a series of choral programs, including the locally famous Treble Clef.
In the 1970s, the music program was run by Dr. Ed Harris, the current director of the School of Music and Dance and the director of bands at San José State University.
For the last 22 years, the school’s music program has been under the hand of Daniel Broome, who has a B.A. and an M.A. in trumpet performance and music education. He also plays string bass and appears from time to time with local theater orchestras. Before coming to Sequoia, Broome taught at Salinas High and before that at the high school in Oroville, which is where he’s from.
Despite the arts crisis in many California public schools, Sequoia’s music program is actually expanding. There are about 220 students in the program, coming from a wide variety of backgrounds. Othello Jefferson teaches Choral I and II and is a Show Choir advisor; Jane Woodman directs bands, the jazz ensemble, and Drumline. A list of private instructors who have worked well with Sequoia students in the past is also available.
“We want you to stay with music throughout your life, to find and be part of a music community for as long as you live.” - Daniel Broome, music program director
Music classes include Guitar, Piano, Band, String Orchestra, and Choral. The Jazz Ensemble operates as an auditioned club with nearly two dozen members. All courses meet the fine arts requirements for graduation and are approved by the A-G UC requirements. The teaching style is focused on hands-on learning, theory, formal principles, and cultural history. Both the string orchestra and the ensemble perform regularly throughout the year, both in school events and in local community festivals.
Bloome says that while some students last year went to study music at such schools as Oregon, University of the Pacific, and Chico, the program’s focus is really more in imparting the sense, and a conviction, that performing music should be a life-long avocation. “In other words, we want you to stay with music throughout your life, to find and be part of a music community for as long as you live.”
“It’s something I’ve noticed over the years: So many students just let it go. Why? I think it’s because many students think of music as something you just do in school, and as they become focused on a career they lose interest. But again this is our interest. Whether you’re in my beginning guitar or piano class or whether you’ve studied for a long time, there’s something about music that has brought you to my door so let’s find out what that is and nurture it and make sure that when you leave here it stays with you. Don’t let it become something ‘you used to do’ That’s the one thing I don’t want, for a student to come back years later and say, ‘oh, music is something I used to do, but no longer.’”