By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

Nearly 20 high school marching bands from throughout the state descended upon Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria for the Third Annual Sounds at Sunrise marching competition, Oct. 17.

Despite a bit of rain and a 15-minute weather delay, the competition marched on with Peoria Unified schools winning and others placing high in their divisions

This event was an Arizona Marching Band Association competition, using “quality adjudication that follows national standards and trends, integrating contemporary marching arts design and technology.”

Sunrise Mountain High School took first place in the 4A division, and Centennial High School took first place in the 3A division.

Sunrise Mountain Band Director Malcolm Jones said he’s excited to see how the season goes after this success.

“Winning first place along with four of the five captions is an incredible achievement. Right now sitting no. 1 in the 4A division is an amazing feeling but these hard working students realize that the job is not yet finished. The students in the Pride of Sunrise are continuing to hone their craft,” he said.

The Sunrise Mountain High School Marching Band Booster Club hosted the event, with nearly 100 volunteers coming together and showing up at 6 a.m. to set up and leaving after 11 p.m.

Jones said hosting an AzMBA event is a massive undertaking.

“I am extremely thankful to be working with a parent booster group that is attentive to detail, proactive, and efficient. Sounds at Sunrise would not be possible without the parents who volunteer their time, energy, and resources to help put it all together," he said.

Centennial Band Director Kate Menasco said she is so proud of the pride of the pack.

“The Coyotes had an incredible showing along with high performance captions in percussion, visual, music, and general effect. What’s even more inspiring is their growth — they raised their score by over four points in just one week. That kind of progress after dealing with weather delays and three weeks without a usable stadium shows true grit,” she said. “It’s awesome to see such high-caliber music and dedication representing our district.”

The Sunrise Mountain event brought together student musicians, color guard performers, directors, families, educators, alumni, and fans from throughout Arizona.

“Hosting a home competition is such a fun experience because you get to host your friends and family in your home. Playing alongside them is an indescribable experience and something that every performer cherishes. It was really cool to win so many awards at our home show. SMHS bands wants to shoutout our community for supporting us,” said Sunrise Mountain marching band student Vivien Saeteurn.

Every Peoria Unified marching band performed in the competition except Cactus High School.

PUSD Director of Arts Education and band parent Stacy Hamilton said there is so much joy in seeing the community come together to celebrate the hard work of students and their directors.

“Thank you to Sunrise Mountain High School band and their incredible booster team for giving our students and the community the space to celebrate their achievements,” she said.

Senior News Editor Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on X @philiphaldiman. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@inusua.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.