While contemporary popular music can make for a great performance at Diamond Bar High School, students can expect a unique experience when they attend a showcase honoring “oldie but goodie” David Bowie. If students choose to make the performance on Sunday, they can have a sense of the culture of one of music’s most riveting eras and one of the past century’s most sensational artists.

“It’s 13 songs spanning his career. Definitely not a full retrospective though because he has a lot of hits,” teacher Daryl Hernandez said. “He’s influenced a lot of people over the years.” In addition to musical acts, video clips will also depict the singer’s career.

The tribute to Bowie will be performed by a relatively new performing arts class called Commercial Music and Entertainment Academy, which began about two years ago. They have participated in other events such as the fundraising event with Ryan Seacrest in addition to this showcase, which they have practiced for since the beginning of the school year.

“The point of the showcase is that the students learn material from a certain artist,” Hernandez said. “After we perform the show we are using those songs to inform their songwriting.”
Bowie was chosen because his work continues to resonate today.

“This is music where everybody will at least know one or two songs, or figure out that they know that song and didn’t realize it was David Bowie,” Hernandez said. “People will know it all across different age ranges.”