The Douglas High School music program offers a great opportunity to all students to reach their music skills development by having an experienced and well prepared music director and teacher: Emilio Gonzalez.

Francisco Barrios/Douglas Dispatch Emilio Gonzalez, music director for the high school giving instructions during a piano class for beginner students. One of the things that Gonzalez enjoy most is to develop music skills in each of his students at the High School.

Born in Villa Altagracia, Dominican Republic, Gonzalez came to the United States in 1973. In those years, Gonzalez lived and worked in New York, New York and Miami, Florida it was 1987 when he came to Phoenix, Arizona where he lived until 2008, when he finally moved to Douglas. “Work was short in Phoenix in those years and my good friend and former principal for Stevenson Elementary, Rafael Ortiz told me about a job opening at the Douglas High School, which in that time it had two years without a music director so I applied for it and later I became the new Music Director for the Marching Band and the Jazz Band.”

Emilio Gonzalez obtained his Bachelor Degree at ASU and later on, he studied and received his Master Degree in Music Arraignment from the Berkeley College of Music in Boston.

Marching band

The Marching Band is a group which represents Douglas High School at Football games, community parades, and participates in School District and Community activities. Musicians prepared themselves the first with Beginning Band. “In the first year here at the High School I found several kids with a good music background from the Junior High Schools, so what I do is I prepare them so they can enter to the Marching Band by understanding the whole concept of this group. There are three steps in this level: To read music; to know the instrument; and, to develop the instrument’s tone.”

About the repertoire

The Marching Band performs classic and traditional styles from very from well-known composers. Gonzalez said “We also try to do music which is common to our students, but most important we try to play music that represents our student diverse heritage.”

Jazz Band

The Jazz Band is for advanced students who like to learn more every day. It is formed by 25 students and it participates in almost the same activities that the Marching Band. “We play traditional Jazz music with new arrangements made to add Latin American ideas but keeping the original essence untouched” Gonzalez said.

Future presentations

The Marching Band and the Jazz Band, both groups directed by Emilio Gonzalez will offer several presentations to kindergarten and first grade students from local schools during April. The idea behind of this is to introduce kids to music and open to them a new opportunity to learn something that’s good for them.

Also, April 27 at 6 p.m. both groups will present their “Spring Concert” at the High School Auditorium. This will be an open to the public event and admission is free.

During the following weeks, the Douglas Dispatch will be presenting the story of each senior student that participates in either the Marching Band or the Jazz Band.