On Saturday, May 3rd, 2025, Osbourn’s guitar program had their annual end-of-the-year concert, RockFest. There were many songs played by different class levels and individual bands who applied to perform. Various cultures were celebrated through this event as well, through the performances of songs in Spanish and Filipino. “Rockfest is always a fun experience for me and hopefully the audience as well,” said sophomore Shane McCusker.

Ms. Rubach spent many months helping her classes prepare for the concert. “We had a concert on February 20th, and then we started preparing for RockFest right after that. I arranged the music first, and I passed out what I call the class part, which is what everybody learns together. I asked the students who would like to do a specialty part, like if you want to sing, because if you don’t have a singer for the song, you don’t have a song,” said guitar teacher, Ms. Rubach. “Honestly, I would say we start preparing when school starts. That’s when we really start learning our chords, and then they have the skills that they need to pull off Rockfest, so it really probably takes the entire year.”

Guitar students said that they prepared for RockFest for almost 2 ½ months prior to the event. “We had a day or two after school until around 4:30 for rehearsal,” said freshman Evangeline Kennedy. Though the rehearsal process for RockFest may have been challenging at times, it pays off in the end. “My favorite part of the rehearsal process is seeing the kids finally get it. When you’ve been teaching something and it’s a hard concept, and you keep going over it and then the kids have that ‘aha’ moment, and you just see it in their eyes, you’re like ‘oh I got it’,” said Rubach. 

Many guitar students were introduced to the instrument even before joining the class, through family members or friends. “My Aunt Heather inspired me to play guitar growing up, so I decided to join at school,” said Kennedy. “I joined guitar because my dad had already taught me quite a bit,” said freshman Sean Flanagan.

Beginning guitar was first on stage. They performed three songs, Man Who Sold the World, Linger, and Minority. Next up was Intermediate, which performed Aqui Te Espero, All I Wanted, and Give Me Novacaine. Advanced One performed No Surprises, Until I Found You, Time to Dance, Lonely Day, and Santeria. Advanced Two & Three performed Ariels, Iris, Plush, Higher, and Dani California. Between each grade level were special acts, performed by bands or individual students.

Guitar players had their favorite songs of the ones they performed during the concert. “I liked performing Eruption, because it gave me a lot of free will and I was able to blow off some steam,” said Flanagan. “My favorite song that I performed was Give Me Novacaine by Green Day,” said McCusker.

It was clear from the large, energetic crowd at RockFest that this was a popular event to remember. Some students were so impressed with the performances that they are now even interested in joining guitar at Osbourn in the future. “RockFest made guitar look so appealing, especially since I was already considering taking that class,” said freshman Precious Sachi. 

Overall, RockFest is a very popular event that showcases the hard work and dedication that guitar students undertake throughout the school year. Here’s hoping this tradition continues for a long time.