Branham bands took a trip to Disneyland for a string of performances, both at the House of Mouse and at CSU-Long Beach.

This is the second time that the bands performed in Anaheim with director Chris Nalls since he joined Branham.

The bands left Branham in the early afternoon on Friday, performing at the Pacific Coast Regional at CSU-Long Beach on Saturday and the Disneyland Festival on Sunday.

After spending the day at Disneyland, the group returned early Monday morning.

Some highlights of the bands’ performance included junior Norina Xu conducting the piece “Ammerland” by Jacob DeHaan, along with a fierce percussion feature from junior Luigi Renovato for the fast-paced tune “Gallop.”

The bands also featured the piece “Black Tie Blue Bop”, featuring a duet with freshman Val Anisimava on the piccolo and junior Brian Garrison on clarinet.

The Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble had rehearsed the tunes separately since January, and the two merged at the festival. Nalls said he was happy seeing the bands work together as a community to perform at both concerts.

“When we were leaving the stage at Disneyland, a longtime Disney employee said to me, ‘you have no business being that good,” Nalls said. “He was so impressed by our band. He didn’t think that high school was capable of playing at that level.”

He said he’s proud of both bands given their limited rehearsal time before performing at both festivals in Anaheim.

“I hope that the students gain an appreciation for the hard work that goes into great performances, and that they were able to build rapport as a community and enjoy getting to know each other and having fun together,” he said.

The bands’ next concert will take place April 4.