Serra's Music Program: Building Musicianship and Mastery

Serra High School’s music program offers a comprehensive high school experience in band, choir and digital music production. Designed for students at every level—from beginners exploring music for the first time to advanced musicians pursuing collegiate study—our program combines rigorous instruction with dynamic performance opportunities.

Through ensemble participation, coursework and public performances, students develop technical skill, artistic expression and confidence while building a lifelong appreciation for music.

Diverse Ensembles and Offerings:

Our unique Tri-School ensembles provide a collaborative environment for students from Serra, Mercy, Burlingame and Notre Dame, Belmont. Offerings include:

Jazz Ensemble: Our most advanced, audition-only group, offering students the chance to refine high-level skills.
Symphonic Band: This dynamic group also serves as the spirited Serra Pep Band, bringing energy and rhythm to school events.
Concert Band: The perfect entry point for beginning musicians to develop foundational skills and performance etiquette.
Tri-School Choir: An after-school opportunity for vocalists to harmonize and perform in a group setting.

Additionally, we offer two courses exclusively for Serra students:

Men's Choir: A specialized vocal ensemble building camaraderie and musical skill.
Digital Production Class: Delving into contemporary music creation, students learn the intricacies of recording, editing and producing their own work.

Performance and Academic Excellence:

Students showcase their hard work and talent in numerous public performances, including festivals and concerts throughout the year. Beyond the stage, our commitment to academic excellence means that all Serra music courses are certified by the University of California system, fulfilling their rigorous visual and performing arts entrance requirements and preparing students for future educational opportunities.

Tri-M Music Honor Society

The Tri-M Music Honor Society is a National Association for Music Education (NAfME) program for students in grades 6-12. It recognizes student musicians for their achievements, leadership and service. Serra’s Tri-M Honor Society members actively participate in the Tri-M Honor Society Club. This group of young men give back to the musical community in a variety of ways. For example, they perform at Padre Previews and other places in the community, raise money for families in need around Christmas time and help to serve in the music program's best interest. The club meets once a month.

More About Current Music Opportunities

Jazz Ensemble (Tri-School)

This is an auditioned group of elite musicians who meet during 0 period (7:20 a.m.– 8:05 a.m.) Monday – Thursday. The group consists of freshmen through seniors who have proven to be advanced enough to handle the most challenging musical arrangements. The Jazz Ensemble is also part of our awesome Pep Band!

Instrumentation: Two alto saxes, two tenor saxes, one bari sax, four trombones, four trumpets, guitar, bass, drums and piano. We occasionally take additional musicians on some of the parts if needed and if ability allows.

If you are interested in being in the Jazz Ensemble, please email Mr. Murphy.

Symphonic Band (Tri-School)

Symphonic Band consists of freshmen through seniors who have at least one year of experience on their instrument and who have been approved by Mr. Murphy to participate.

Students should be proficient at the basics on their instrument and able to read sheet music. This group plays at a few festivals and concerts during the year and is also part of our wonderful Pep Band!

Instrumentation: Flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax, bari sax, trumpet, horn, trombone, baritone/euphonium, tuba, bass and percussion. (Drum set players MUST know how to read sheet music to participate.)

If you are interested in joining the Symphonic Band, please email Mr. Murphy.

Concert Band (Tri-School)

Don’t be fooled by the name—this is a true beginning band. Serra offers the rare opportunity to start a band instrument from scratch in high school, a chance few Bay Area schools provide and one many students assume no longer exists after middle school. Students develop fundamental technique, ensemble skills, and the ability to read sheet music—an asset that lasts a lifetime. Those who demonstrate growth and commitment may advance to Symphonic Band and/or Jazz Ensemble the following year.

Instrumentation: Flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax, bari sax, trumpet, horn, trombone, baritone/euphonium, tuba, bass and percussion.

Tri-School Choir (Tri-School)

This choir is a GREAT opportunity for a coed musical education! This group meets once a week for two hours in the Serra music room. It’s open to freshmen through senior boys and girls from Serra, Mercy and Notre Dame. The choir sings sacred, spiritual, gospel, contemporary and pop music, performing at three to four concerts a year.

If you’re interested in joining us, be on the lookout for announcements about the start of the choir in the early fall of 2026.

Men’s Choir (Serra Only)

Our Men’s Choir consists of tenor, baritone and bass voices. We come together to sing many genres of music including spirituals, ballads, gospel, contemporary, sacred and pop.

We sing at most prayer services and masses at school and graduation as well as for other special occasions.

The group sings accompanied by piano as well as a capella. The Men’s Choir has a long standing tradition at Serra High School as one of the elite ensembles of its kind in the Bay Area.

No audition is required. Freshmen through seniors are invited to participate.

Digital Production (Serra Only)

Serra offers a one-of-a-kind digital production class where students will learn the basics of songwriting using Garage Band and other DAWs. They will learn how to write lyrics, format a song, create melodies and beats, and ultimately compose their own music.

In addition, the class will focus on movie making. Students will learn to storyboard, write scripts, use teleprompters and green screens plus learn how to create a soundtrack for their own short films.

This class is open to all freshmen through seniors, but it fills up VERY fast!

Do students need prior music experience to join the program?

No, students do not need prior music experience to join Serra High School’s music program. We have opportunities for all levels of students to join our music program. If you’ve never played or sung before, you can join our Concert Band and learn to play an instrument from scratch. You can sing in our Men’s Choir without any experience. And you don’t need any musical experience to join the Digital Production class. However, if you have musical experience, we have an intermediate opportunity with our Symphonic Band and an advanced opportunity with our Jazz Ensemble. In addition, we have two clubs: a Drumline that doesn’t require any drum experience and a Tri-School Choir that doesn’t require singing experience.

What music ensembles can students participate in at Serra High School?

Serra High School offers a range of music ensembles and programs for different experience levels:

Music Classes:

Symphonic Band – Intermediate ensemble for most musicians with at least one year of playing experience and an intermediate music reading ability.
Jazz Ensemble – Advanced ensemble for dedicated musicians who audition into the group.
Men’s Choir – All students are welcome to join. No experience necessary.
Digital Production – All students are welcome to sign up. Spots are limited. No experience necessary.

Music Clubs:

Drumline – This is a club that meets on late-start days, before school. No drum experience necessary.
Tri-School Choir – This is a club that meets after school on Wednesdays from 3:30–5:00pm. This is a Tri-School club and no experience is necessary.

Students can participate in both classes and clubs depending on their interests and schedule.

Are there performance opportunities for music students?

Yes, Serra High School music students have multiple performance opportunities throughout the year. These include:

Winter Concert
Spring Concert
CMEA Band, Jazz and Choral festivals
Annual trips, including performances at destinations like Disneyland or other locations across the country
Padre Preview performances
Performances at Serra’s fall and spring art shows
Performances at football and basketball games

Do Serra’s music courses meet college entrance requirements?

Meet Joe Murphy

Music Director

Joe Murphy knew as early as sixth grade that he wanted to play and teach music. Pursuing that passion, he attended California State University, Northridge as a Tuba Performance major and graduated with a B.M. in Tuba Performance in 2002. While still in college, he began his teaching career as assistant band director at La Cañada High School in Southern California, a role he held for five years. During that time he also performed with several professional ensembles, including the Santa Barbara Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Inland Empire Symphony, Redlands Symphony and Antelope Valley Symphony, and appeared as a substitute with orchestras at Pepperdine University and Azusa Pacific University. He also served part-time as music director at Agoura Hills High School.

In 2005, Joe accepted a teaching position at Tierra Linda Middle School in San Carlos, where he spent 16 years building a thriving program. Under his leadership, enrollment grew from 120 students to more than 300, and the program earned numerous festival awards.

In 2021, Joe joined the community at Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo. Since then, he has expanded the music program to more than 130 performers and over 190 students overall. He also rebuilt the Tri-School music program, bringing more than 100 girls back into the program over the past five years.

In addition to teaching at Serra, Joe maintains an active private studio and has sent more than 100 students to the California All-State Bands over the past 26 years. His students now study and perform professionally around the world. For the past decade, Joe and his wife, Sara, have also run Murphy Music Camps at Serra each summer, offering two weeks of music education for upper elementary and middle school students.

Music Festivals
A Look Back on Serra’s Music Program

Music Festivals

Serra's three performing groups participate in a variety of festivals. Non-competitive festivals are frequently referred to as "comments only" festivals, where a group performs for judges, but instead of receiving a score or rating, they receive constructive comments live, on stage in the form of a mini clinic.

At competitive festivals, like the one sponsored by the California Music Education Association (CMEA), groups are judged, scored and rated. The competition involves having bands or choirs perform a short set (usually three numbers) for a panel of three adjudicators, all of whom are music educators from around the state. Groups are rated on skills like musicality, technique, expression and discipline (jazz bands are also rated on the quality of their improvised solos) and then given a composite score that translates to categories like "Good (70 - 79)," "Excellent (80 - 89)" or the highest rating, "Superior (90 - 100)."

Performing groups then move to a different location, where they must "sight-read" for a fourth adjudicator—a process that involves playing or singing a piece in its entirety that they have never seen before. Symphonic and jazz band directors are given five minutes to talk about the piece to the band. However, members are not allowed to play—or even sing—any of the parts during this time. The competing bands then play the unfamiliar piece from start to finish, trying to play it as close to perfect as possible. Choirs, on the other hand, are given five minutes to actually rehearse the piece before singing it straight through a capella (without accompaniment). The sight-reading judge rates the band or choir in a similar fashion to the other three judges and also assigns a rating. Bands who receive "Superior" ratings from all four judges are given the coveted "Unanimous Superior" designation.