Please take the district survey and name the House of Music as a priority by November 15.
The Rio Band community has long dreamed of building a performance space worthy of the music produced by our students. A facility with state-of-the-art acoustics, recording capability, and good capacity, comfortable seating and sight lines for the audience. A theater where we can proudly present Playathon, Winter and Spring Concerts, Small Ensemble Nights, and countless other events. A place for our local elementary and middle Schools to hold their concerts. Rio Americano High School was originally built as a “temporary” structure in the 1960’s, and is missing many of the features a modern high school requires. It’s now time to create a 21st Century performance space for Rio’s internationally respected Band Program.
The Rio Americano Band Boosters (RABB) board has launched a mission to build our dream, with the support of SJUSD and the Rio community. Rio alum and architect Dennis Greenbaum created a conceptual drawing and floor plan for a 350 person instrumental performance space, pro bono. The theater would adjoin the existing band room, which would be upgraded with new practice spaces and instrument storage.
Fortunately, with the passage of Measure N, SJUSD will have significant funds for school improvements district-wide. We must now make our case for the “Rio Americano House of Music” to the wider Rio community, our local elementary and middle schools, and the SJUSD community at large. In the coming months we will be asking you to help out in various ways, including voicing your support of this project in community meetings where public opinion will be measured.
RABB has already collected over $20,000 in seed money, donated by community members, friends far and wide, and even Jazz great Pat Metheney, in memory of Niko Winchell, our sophomore guitarist who passed away in the fall of 2012. The time has come to make this vision a reality for our own and future generations of young musicians. Please join us in this rare opportunity to make one of the country’s finest band programs even better.