The Lancer

The Lancer

The Lancer

TOHS Theatre Flies Among the Stars
TOHS Theatre Flies Among the Stars
Gemma Spraggins, Assistant News Editor • November 21, 2023

With opening night of “Peter and the Starcatcher” on Thursday, November 16th, and closing night on Saturday, November 18th, the cast has...

Boston Journalism Convention goes in all the ‘write’ ways
Boston Journalism Convention goes in all the ‘write’ ways
Aandrea Pineda-Dominguez, News Editor • November 6, 2023

With a stinging chill in the air, professional writers and aspiring journalists gathered in Boston, MA for the annual JEA/NSPA Fall National...

Should schools have a block schedule?
Maximus Cover and Christian-Isaiah Aguilar November 3, 2023

Fall Sports Round-Up
November 3, 2023

No red flags for Girls Flag Football
No red flags for Girls Flag Football
Lilah Swaving and Riley Brown October 28, 2023

Former Thousand Oaks High School varsity head football coach Mike Leibin took on a new yet somewhat familiar challenge: TO girls flag football...

Lancers tie for Canyon League title
Lancers tie for Canyon League title
Jackson Kurtz, The Lancer Staff • October 28, 2023

Q&A THE LANCER: What challenges did you have to overcome in your first season?” MCENROE: “Every job is unique and there’s no such...

Lakers Preview: Title No. 18?
Lakers Preview: Title No. 18?
Jake Bradley, Sports Editor • October 28, 2023

With LeBron James entering his 21st season in the NBA, he only has his eyes on winning his fifth championship and, for the Lakers, their...

AROUND T.O.WN
Rhiannon Hendershot, The Lancer Staff • October 28, 2023

Reign of Terror 275 N Moorpark Rd East, Thousand Oaks, Sept. 29-Nov. 4, 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Walk through various bone-chilling rooms and exhibits...

Preserving the human aspect in the age of AI
Preserving the human aspect in the age of AI
Joseph Goodnight, Opinion Editor • October 28, 2023

With the ever-changing scope of technology, we as a generation constantly have to accept new ways in which artificial intelligence is integrating...

Día de los Muertos Dance strives for increased inclusivity
Día de los Muertos Dance strives for increased inclusivity
Kimberly Jerez, The Lancer Staff • October 28, 2023

The Latino Connection Club at Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Westlake High have come together to host their annual Día de los Muertos dance,...

OFF-CAMPUS PASS
Momo Sonoda, Editor-In-Chief • October 28, 2023

Unanimous GOP vote elects Rep. Mike Johnson for House Speaker More than three weeks after the historical outsting of the Speaker of the House,...

Cheers, Starbucks: a new staple in TO
Cheers, Starbucks: a new staple in TO
Kailah Spencer, The Lancer Staff • October 28, 2023

“Can I get a Lancer Frappuccino?” was something Starbucks manager Miguel Medina heard a lot of following the opening of the new store...

TO welcomes college visitors
Alyssa Kiszczak, Managing Editor • October 28, 2023

Throughout the year, TO provides students with college visits from many schools across the nation. They usually consist of an informational briefing...

Orchestra starting the year off on a good note
Orchestra starting the year off on a good note
Aandrea Pineda-Dominguez, News Editor • October 28, 2023

The instruments are finely tuning, patience is running out, and the maestro is preparing to orchestrate another musical masterpiece. Thousand...

Science Rooms gets a Facelift
Gemma Spraggins, Assistant News Editor • October 28, 2023

On the first day of the school year, TO forensics teacher Michael Flores watched his class experience science in a whole new way. As...

From the Dust

From+the+Dust

Last summer, junior Jackson Waters went to the Oregon Bach Festival Composer Symposium at the University of Oregon, a program usually reserved for college level composers. However, Waters was the exception. After a summer of working among college students, Wyant Morton, conductor of Arete Vocal Ensemble and long-time family friend of Waters, found out that he as a highschooler got into the program and asked Jackson to write something for Arete.

Waters, a member of TOHS band, got into composing at a young age.

“I started fooling around on trumpet and piano and writing melodies, and I just really enjoyed it. I didn’t think too much of it,” Waters said. “My first piece was in honor of my sister’s friend who committed suicide a few years back, and my freshman year the TOHS band premiered it. That’s when I really wanted to start composing.”

Because he needed to write a choral piece for Arete, Waters knew he would need lyrics, which he had no experience writing, so he turned to sophomore Madeline Biggs for help.

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“I used to write a lot when I was little… As I grew up I didn’t tell anyone that I liked to write because I thought it was stupid but I would do it anyway because I couldn’t stop myself,” Biggs said.

While Biggs has had the tendency to gravitate toward essay writing, her recent collaboration with Waters inspired her to delve into poetry.

“It’s a nice way of expressing yourself when music isn’t the biggest thing in your life,” Biggs said.

The piece draws inspiration from the destruction the Woolsey fire brought. Biggs started writing once the fires started to calm down, but she needed a title. The first thing that came to Waters’ mind was “Dust.”

“Immediately my mind went to the fires and what had just happened in our community,” Biggs said.

The piece is four stanzas long with the first two focusing on the destruction and mourning the losses the fires brought. The second two stanzas, however, focus on rebuilding.

“One person stands up and they turn around and help the next person stand up, and finally everyone that is left behind is healing,” Biggs said. “Sure, we did lose a lot, but … everyone needs to believe in each other in order to heal fully and now the hills are green and people are building houses again. It’s really inspiring to see that what I wrote about is what I can see in our community now.”

The first time Waters heard his piece come to life from paper was at a rehearsal with the ensemble.

“When I was going to the rehearsal I was incredibly nervous because I wasn’t sure how it was going to sound, and I didn’t know much about the ensemble. Once I heard them play the first couple of notes I just relaxed, and then I got really happy. I actually could not stop smiling; it was really cool,” Waters said.

However, Biggs did not hear it until Sunday’s performance.

“It was insane. I didn’t know what I was supposed to expect. I knew it would be good because [Waters] is a good composer, but I never expected it to be as intense as it was,” Biggs said.

In musical terms, the first half of the piece is in D-minor while the second half in in F major to represent the change in tone.

“Everything is becoming good again and I really wanted to implement that thought into the music” Waters said.

Both Waters and Biggs agree that the process of creating Dust was intense but well worth the outcome.

“Writing,” Waters said, “It doesn’t come quickly.”

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