San Joaquin County Office of Education County Honors Concert preparation has commenced for the 2025-2026 school year. High school music students from the county have submitted their auditions and have been accepted into this year’s group and now await the first rehearsals.
County Honor is a program where music students from high schools all around San Joaquin County audition for a spot in either the county high school orchestra, band, or choir. Those who are accepted into the program have the opportunity to play with other high school students who are highly skilled and have a passion for music. The students rehearse together before having a final concert in January to showcase what they have learned.
This year Ripon High School has students participating in all three groups. The choir students are Shelby Kahan, Arveen Sekhon, Evangeline Christensen, Marko Ethan Nino Arceo, Angel Martin, and Josue Martinez. The members for orchestra are Violet Weidman, Gianna Hickman, Rebekah Friend, Emilie Valles, Malini Harvey, Nate Lopez, and Kaylee Randall. The band students are Christopher Nelson, Kari Marshall, and Kaylee Randall.
The conductors of the ensembles change every year, all of whom have prior musical experience and show their passion and love for music through how they conduct and speak about the pieces. This year the orchestra conductor is Ryan Murray, the director of Orchestra & Opera at CSU Sacramento and Artistic Director of Music in the Mountains as well as the Principal Pops Conductor of the Modesto Symphony. The choir conductor is Kory Reid who is a music director for Fog City Singers in San Francisco and is a vocal ensemble coach. The band guest conductor for this year is Elisha Wells the Director of Brands, Brass, and Music Theory at Fresno City College.
For County Honor, the music students from Ripon High travel together and it gives them time to bond and create new friendships. They go out to eat and make fun memories together in the vans. Once they get to County Honor they continue to forge new friendships which will stick with them as they play together again, in County Honor or other ensembles.
Senior Emilie Valles, a senior who has been in County Honor all of her four high school years, states, “I really like being able to play alongside of really talented players and being able to forge relationships with them.”
Being accepted into the County Honor music program means that you are talented and competitive in your musical life. It allows students the opportunity to learn how to play music together and they can be taught by the guest conductor new things.
Valles adds, “being a good musician isn’t the only thing you should strive for. You should also work to build connections and actually enjoy the process of playing music.”
We are so proud of all the Ripon High music students who are participating in this year’s County Honor.
