Band

About ALA Band Program

Symphonic band is the advanced level wind instrument ensemble offered at ALA for students in grades 9-12. An audition and prior experience of 2+ years is required to be in this class. The goal of this ensemble is to play at a high level of musicianship, perform at region and state festivals, and to prepare students for college auditions and professional level play. This class also combines frequently with the Symphony strings class to form a symphony orchestra which performs at ALA’s annual production “The Spirit of Christmas” and various festivals throughout the state of Utah. Frequently these musicians are called upon to perform in all the band classes offered at ALA as substitutes and young professionals. 



Jazz Ensemble

Current
Course Offerings

Symphonic Band

Symphonic band is the advanced level wind instrument ensemble offered at ALA for students in grades 9-12. An audition and prior experience of 2+ years is required to be in this class. The goal of this ensemble is to play at a high level of musicianship, perform at region and state festivals, and to prepare students for college auditions and professional level play. This class also combines frequently with the Symphony strings class to form a symphony orchestra which performs at ALA’s annual production “The Spirit of Christmas” and various festivals throughout the state of Utah. Frequently these musicians are called upon to perform in all the band classes offered at ALA as substitutes and young professionals. 



Jazz Ensemble

The jazz ensemble is the premier performance ensemble in the band program. This group consists of the top players in the band, percussion, and guitar classes. While the primary focus is on jazz and improvisation, the class expands its repertoire to funk, pop, metal, rock, ska, or any other type of music that we feel. This class performs frequently in concerts, festivals, showcases, and assemblies. This class helps students prepare for college, and real life gigging experience. (grades 9-12)

 

Elementary Band

Elementary band is a beginning level class designed to learn a new wind instrument or percussion instruments for students in grades 5-6. No previous experience is necessary to join this class. The purpose is to learn the basic techniques of individual and ensemble playing to prepare them for the rigors of music in the secondary level. Some of the best musicians come out of this class! This group performs 2-4 times throughout the school year.

Band 1

A beginning level class designed to learn woodwind, brass, or percussion instruments for students grade 7-12. No previous experience is necessary to join this class. The purpose is to learn the basic techniques of individual and ensemble playing to prepare them for the rigors of music in the higher levels of band classes offered at ALA. This group performs 4-5 times throughout the year including an outside of school festival performance.

 

Concert Band

An intermediate level class designed for students playing woodwind or brass instruments with 1-2 years of prior experience for students in grades 7-12. The goal of this class is to introduce more advanced concepts of intonation, rhythm, scales, music theory, sight reading, and ensemble sound and balance. This group will directly prepare students for the audition required to get into the symphonic band. This group performs 4-6 times throughout the year including solo night, and festival performances.

 

Drumline/ Percussion

The percussion class is an intermediate to advanced level class for all percussion instruments. This includes, but not limited to, mallet percussion (xylophones, marimbas, vibraphones, etc), Battery percussion (snare drums, tenors, bass drums, drumline), symphonic percussion (timpani, tambourine,etc.) hand percussion (bongos, congas, etc) and drum kit. This class is for students who have had 1-2 years of prior experience. This group has many responsibilities including the drumline for football games, backing up the various band classes, perform in its own percussion specific ensemble for region and state festivals, and preparing for other classes with drum kit such as jazz ensemble and guitar 2. 

Guitar 1

A beginning level workshop type class that focuses on the fundamentals of guitar and general musicianship. Students will learn to play both lead and rhythm guitar functions, starting from the absolute beginning. Students will get a chance to play various genres including folk, rock, blues, classical, and a little bit of jazz.

Guitar 2

An intermediate to advanced level class for guitarists with 1+ years of experience. This is a performing class that plays various genres such as classical, jazz, pop, rock, blues. This expands on the techniques learned in guitar 1. This class performs at solo festivals, region and state festivals and various other times throughout the year.

Meet The Director

Bruce Neibaur

Band Director

Bruce Neibaur teaches Band, Percussion, and Guitar here at ALA. He grew up in Pleasant Grove, Utah and graduated from Snow College with a degree in trumpet performance, commercial music, and music education.  He has taught for six years, including at a school in Lyman, Wyoming where his groups received superior ratings at festivals. Bruce loves to see the band program at ALA grow, and has seen a 200% growth in the program since his arrival in 2021. Bruce enjoys performing in various bands, and plays trumpet with the American Fork Wasatch Winds on a regular basis. 

Important Dates

Performances

• February 11th - Region Jazz festival 9:00 am @ ALA

• February 25th - Solo Night

• March 12th - Ensemble Showcase @ ALA  Black Box Theater

• April 10th - Jazz ensemble and Guitar 2 showcase @ ALA Black Box Theater  7PM

• May 6th - Spring Band concert.  7PM Jr. high Auditorium

Events

 

• March 19 - Region Solo and Ensemble

 

Auditons

 

Spring 2025 TBA 

 

 

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