On February 14, the RB music department left Illinois and ventured west into the Golden State of California. There, they toured the Los Angeles area and performed at Universal Studios.

The trip was announced this past summer through a video that was emailed out to students and their families. The freshmen were also told about the trip on the first day of their summer band camp. 

On the morning of February 14, students and chaperones came to RB at 4 am to be bussed to O’Hare Airport for their flight. It took two planes to get everyone to L.A. and four buses to bus the group of over 150 teachers and chaperones. 

“I thought [the travel] was going to be a lot more stressful than it was,” said senior Quinn Jacquat of Rock Band. ”It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

After a long four hour flight where the students listened to music, watched TV, and played video games, the students arrived in Los Angeles. The groups were sorted into 14 different groups and toured various parts of L.A.

Students on the first day explored Santa Monica Pier and went to the US Bank tower to experience the OUE Skyspace. This was followed by a city tour of downtown Los Angeles. 

“My favorite thing there was Santa Monica Pier and the beach,” says sophomore jazz band member Nick Sacharski.

Compared to freezing Chicago weather in February, students on the trip experienced highs temperatures up to 70℉.

On Saturday, students had a very busy schedule with touring the Warner Brothers’ studio and attending a Hollywood walking tour. Additionally, they visited The Grove and went down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

“It was actually really interesting,” said sophomore choir member Ellie Jones. ”It was really cool seeing the costumes and seeing the TV shows that I really watched a lot as a kid.”

On February 16, the RB band, choir, and orchestra performed at Universal Studio’s City Walk, where each ensemble played for about half an hour each. The RB Rock Band did not perform during the trip.

“It was a little bit stressful,” said Jones. ”But once you were on stage all that stress really went away and it was honestly one of the coolest experiences in my life.”

“[The performance] went well,” said Sacharski. 

Students also were able to go on rides at Universal Studios and spend the day there. 

The following day, students went to the Grammy Museum before returning home to Illinois. 

”[The trip] went really smoothly, we didn’t leave anyone behind,” said Sacharski.