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HAYWARD - Kevin Cato didn't exactly have a five-year plan when he was passed the baton at Mt. Eden High School, taking over as the director of the school's band program.
When he arrived, there wasn't much in the way of equipment and morale was low.
"The first year, the students played at a middle-school level; they couldn't play half their notes and didn't know the right fingering for their instruments," Cato said. "I knew that there was a lot of work ahead of us. "... I had to come in and build the program from scratch."
Mt. Eden has long had a renowned choir program, but other accolades are few and far between. It's not a school known for its academics nor its sports teams.
But Cato could see potential in his
students and sensed a desire he wanted to fuel.He invested heavily in the program. He bought instruments — a personal investment of about $25,000 — and began an intensive course of study to turn around the program.
"We're not in a very affluent neighborhood, and we make do with what we have," he said. "But it was never the kids holding themselves back. They wanted something and were willing to work hard for it. They were eager. Change was going to happen."
Half a decade later, his kids are preparing for a performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall in April — the latest in a string of road trips that has turned the band into a powerhouse.
"You would never know they're fifth in the nation until
In particular, the wind ensemble has been the troupe to beat. It scored first place at competitions last year in Hawaii and Del Mar and second-place finishes the past two years at the Anaheim Heritage Festival. Its fifth-place national ranking comes from a trip to the Festival of Gold at Boston Symphony Hall in 2007.
And Cato said his students had to turn down a trip that would have been more icing on an already sweet cake.
"We were invited to play at the Olympics in Beijing last summer," he said. "We really wanted to but just couldn't afford it."
He has also seen his students realize individual success.
Juniors Wayne Jopanda and Javier Cense, and sophomore Azeem Ward, all earned the honor of performing with the National Honor Band and Orchestra of America in Indianapolis this year.
"That's huge," Cato said. "That's something that I always wanted to do when I was in school but never had the chance."
That honor band selects 100 students from around the nation based on a video audition.
Jopanda, who played with the national band last year as well, said Cato has been an inspiration from the start.
"I had been taking private lessons in fourth grade, playing this little guitar," he said.
"It was a Fisher-Price guitar," interjected Cato, laughing.
"And my previous instructor had told me my hands were too small to play larger instruments," Jopanda said. "I went to Mr. Cato, the music instructor at my elementary school, and he told me that's nonsense, and switched me to this."
Jopanda grinned and gestured at his enormous string bass in the same manner a car aficionado would show off a vintage coupe. He has been playing since and is now ranked eighth in the nation among high school musicians.
Cato said that as big as those victories are, it's not the most important thing about the band program.
"I can attest that my program has saved kids, whether it's kept them from dropping out, or from not going to college, or being lost," Cato said. "It's taught them leadership skills, how to function in the community, how to be social."
Sophomore Roberto Figueroa, who plays the French horn and bass drum, said that like most of his fellow students, he is worried looming budget cuts could affect the program.
"There are so many kids in here that I don't know what they would do without band," Figueroa said. "It's a scary thing. I always go to band after school, just to chill for a little bit, and I don't know what I would do."
Cato said it's not just his Mt. Eden program that's vital. He said music education is something that needs to be fostered starting in elementary school, and that elementary and middle schools feed into the high school bands.
"It's like math, or reading, or any other academic subject," he said. "Can you imagine trying to start someone off learning math in high school? They need a background, they need the groundwork. They can't just jump in at this level — it's too late."
Eric Kurhi covers Hayward. Reach him at 510-293-2473 or ekurhi@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Hometown Heroes, a partnership between Bay Area News Group-East Bay and Comcast, celebrates people in the Bay Area who make a difference in their communities. In addition to highlighting remarkable individuals, the Hometown Heroes feature aims to encourage volunteerism, raise visibility of nonprofits and key causes in the area and create a spirit of giving.
Read about a new Hometown Hero every other Monday and watch the program on Comcast on Demand at Channel One, Bay On Demand. Hometown Heroes.
