Mikayla Eclavea is a senior at Glendale High School and was the drum major of the GHS marching band this school year. She led the GHS marching band through their 2024 field show “The Crown”. She has also played trumpet in several other GHS ensembles over the years, including the jazz band and concert band.
Outside of school, Mikayla is involved in the Glendale Youth Symphony. She is also a member of the Filipino Club, Speech and Debate Club, Choir Club and Physics Club. In her free time, she enjoys playing music, singing karaoke and hanging out with friends.
Mikayla’s love of music began with her family. She noted, “My mother was a singer, while my father was a pianist.” She expressed that, while she had stopped playing music during the COVID-19 pandemic, some friends in her freshman year encouraged her to join the marching band.
Mikayla feels that much of her inspiration has come from previous drum majors including Carmelo Geron, Hajime Araki and Diya Singh. She admired how engaging, passionate and committed each of the previous drum majors were. Another one of her close friends, Hannah Rachel Reantaso, a former member of the marching band and the GHS track team, was someone that influenced and mentored her during her freshman year.
Mikayla has many fond memories from her time in the marching band. “The band comes together and shows off our school spirit,” she explained. “No matter what is happening on the field, our marching band is always cheering on.” In addition, she enjoyed interacting at competitions with the marching bands from both Hoover High School and Crescenta Valley High School, and she loved dancing in the bleachers to various pep songs and cadences.
Despite all of these happy memories, Mikayla faced several challenges as drum major. “Being drum major requires a lot of patience with yourself and others,” Mikayla stated. “Other than conducting, the role of the drum major is to lead, direct, problem-solve and motivate.”
In particular, Mikayla described the difficulties of having a large band to lead. “It’s hard to communicate and maintain our determination to put up an amazing show,” she said. She explained that, despite the complications of having a large band, she was satisfied with how everyone performed.
While Mikayla’s high school music career has finally ended, she is incredibly proud of her marching band experience, and she is grateful for the opportunity to influence and leave her mark on the GHS music program. In the future, Mikyala plans to major in nursing at Pasadena City College before transferring to further her education.
If you are interested in joining next year’s marching band, or any other music programs, please contact Ms. Amy Rangel at [email protected]. You can also follow the marching band on Instagram: @glendalehighmarchingband.
