Rialto High Band Earns Historic Finish, Advances to State Championships

The Rialto High School Royal Knight Regiment is heading to the California State Band Championships for the first time in school history after earning a second-place finish at the Southern California Division 2A CSBC Championships on November 22.

The road to a California title continues at the State Championships on December 6 at Bolsa Grande High School in Garden Grove (9401 Westminster Blvd.). The Royal Knights are scheduled to take the field at 5:45 p.m.

The trip to the championships is a major accomplishment for a program just in its third year. Plus, Rialto High School is the only school from San Bernardino County represented at the state-level competition.

Royal Knight Regiment Director Mark Garcia described this season as “an incredible underdog story and an unbelievable victory for our program and our District,” and credited the students for their dedication and incredible performances that have elevated the program to the California State Band Championships for the first time. 

“I just want to shift the attention to how hard the kids have been working,” Garcia said. “Being one of the only bands on this corner of California to make it to State Finals is a hard feat, and I want the kids to get all the glory. Thank you, students, for being a firm representation of our Rialto community and Rialto VAPA department.”

The Southern California Division 2A tournament, considered one of the most competitive events in the region, brought together 16 of the top Division 2A marching bands from across Southern California. Bands were evaluated in multiple categories, including Music Performance, Visual Performance, Music Effect, Visual Effect, Percussion, and Auxiliary (Colorguard).

The program has made big strides since it was founded three years ago. This year’s competition marked a significant turnaround from last year’s tournament, which the group described as a learning experience that motivated students to push themselves throughout the season.

Those efforts culminated in a milestone showing with their performance of the show “Conspiracy Theory” by Gary P. Gilroy. The Royal Knight Regiment earned an overall score of 80.95, the highest in the program’s history. Their Music Performance score of 88.0 also marked a new program best.

For the first time in Rialto High’s history, the Royal Knight Regiment placed 2nd at the CSBC 2A Division Championships. Garcia noted that the accomplishment came against 15 bands with long legacies of competition that he and his students had looked up to in prior years: “This is incredibly hard to do considering that many of the programs we are competing against are decades in the making, and Rialto is only three.”

Now the Knights are headed for an even bigger stage at the California State band Championships, where they will compete against finalists from both Southern and Northern California.