“Mr. Berard has been the band director at Fossil since the school opened. The other night was very emotional for both Mr. Berard and all of the students. For me personally, it felt like an honor getting to be part of the last ensemble Mr. Berard conducted here”, said Wind Symphony’s Andrew Hounder. On May 7, Fossil Ridge High School’s band held the final concert that Mr. Berard would conduct as the Band Director. The concert was held in the Performing Arts Center to a wide variety of people. So many people came to the concert, they had to put some of the audience in the commons with a live broadcast provided by Ridge TV. The Fossil Wind Symphony played “Scenes from the Louvre” by Norman Dello Joio, “Amazing Grace” by Frank Ticheli, and “Danzon No. 2” by Arturo Marquez. The Fossil Symphonic Band played “Mountain Thyme” by Samuel Hazo, “J.S. Jig” by Brant Karrick, and “Brighton Camp” which is a combination of old war marches.

“The concert was super meaningful and I could tell that everyone just wanted this concert to be unforgettable as it was Berard’s last concert here”, said junior Jessie Griffith, who is a part of Wind Symphony. The Wind Symphony will be taken over by Meghan Muñoz and co-directed by Ian Faires. Mrs. Muñoz has been helping with the band for a year and the students feel that she will be a good fit next year. “I am really excited to see the band handed over to Mrs. Muñoz, she is an amazing band director and an even better person and I’m excited to see what she and Mr. Faires has instore for next year”, said Wind Symphony’s Camden Reynolds.

A banquet was also held after the concert for current band members and alumni from the band. They held this banquet to celebrate the 14 years that Mr. Berard was the band director. The banquet included a variety of desserts brought in by the current band parents. It was also organized by the parents, who contacted the alumni and current students. The parents also put up displays of past marching band shows; there was a board of post-it-notes with thank you notes to Berard for all his years.