MusicFest brings Local Talent and Christmas Cheer

The Vanguard Art Gallery exuded Christmas spirit on Dec. 19 as various community members filled the walls of the gallery to celebrate the holidays with music, food, and fun. The majority of the crowd was students from local high schools including Valley View and Vista del Lago. According to Valley View senior and volunteer of the gallery, Isabel Aguirre, the idea of the event was to get local musicians to come out and share their musical talent with the rest of the community, while celebrating the holidays with friends. The Vanguard has a myriad of volunteers that consist mainly of local high school students. The group of seniors, and one junior, are all from Valley View High School: Aaron De Armas Zayas, Romelo Thornton, Isabel Aguirre, Judi Tighe, Diana Martinez, and Dacia Maldonado. Judi Tighe, senior at Valley View High School, said that there were acoustic and non-acoustic performances and each set was given thirty minutes to perform. There were a total of 12 performances, featuring some of the volunteers as well. Acoustic performances included: Moises Montgomery, Chris Sawyer, Isabel Aguirre, and Jose Soberanes while the non-acoustic performances were Motoko, The Mensos, Good Intentions, The Groans, Pezheads, Bad Abstract, and Bad Joy. "We've had instances where people walked by and didn't know this was going on and they ask 'what do I do to be able to perform?'," said President and CEO of the Moreno Valley Cultural Arts Foundation (MVCAF) and the Vanguard Art Gallery Richard Archer. The answer is simple: just show up. According to Aguirre, the volunteers, with the help of Archer, are the ones that come up with ideas for events like these and are always on the look out for local youth wanting to share their artistic side with the rest of the community. "These kids bring all this talent in here," Archer said. "It's a fun party, it gives them a chance to showcase their talent while also providing a safe environment for them to get together." After the MusicFest, the holiday fun continued with an ugly Christmas sweater-themed party and a gift exchange with their secret Santa.