Ensembles Offered

Concert Band

The Concert Band is a year-long course open to any student who wishes to learn a brass, woodwind or percussion instrument. The group will learn how to play and maintain their instruments. Members of this band perform with the Symphonic Band at all performances and are referred to as Concert Band only for scheduling purposes. Freshmen and new members must enroll in this course. Performances include “home” varsity football games, half of the home varsity basketball games, 3-4 parades, and 5-6 formal concerts throughout the year. On occasion, this group is hired out to private events that may occur at any day or time.

Symphonic Band

The Symphonic Band is a year-long course open to brass, woodwind and percussion players. The group will perform music from the standard wind band repertoire, as well as marches and “pops” music. Returning members should enroll in this course. Performances include “home” varsity football games, half of the home varsity basketball games, parades, and 4-5 formal concerts throughout the year. On occasion, this group is hired out to private events that may occur at any day or time.

32nd Street Jazz Band

The 32nd Street Jazz Band is a traditional big band with 17 members that perform a variety of literature. Participation is by audition only. Students should be familiar with playing in a swing style, comfortable improvising and confident sight-readers. The group performs at various school and alumni functions, the winter and spring concerts and several jazz festivals in the spring. This group also performs many private gigs, and being able to accept these on a week’s notice is a requirement of performing with this ensemble. Rehearsals are after school, 1-2 days per week.

Jazz Band - Honors

Jazz Band Honors is a performance-based class that offers a rigorous curriculum, with emphasis in the study of a wide variety of stylistic genres. Students will select, analyze, and perform college level literature with great proficiency. There will be a strong emphasis in improvisation covering all significant forms and harmonic progressions used in the jazz idiom. Students will study the influence of jazz music and its development in Africa, the United States and Latin American countries. Several professional musicians and college educators will serve as guest lecturers and clinicians to both refine student performance and present career possibilities in music. Each student will compose and perform his/her own original jazz composition.

Jazz Combo

The Saints Jazz Combo is an elite group of musicians that meet once a week to refine their jazz improvisational skills. The group is open to anyone in the jazz band, but typically is comprised of a rhythm section and 2-3 horns. The group is hired to perform around town quite regularly. Students in this group are working musicians and are expected to take gigs several times per month.

Pit Orchestra (Extra Curricular)

The VAPA Department collaborates a musical theatre production each year. Students from the music department have the opportunity to perform in the “pit” orchestra, supplying live music for the action on stage. Students will receive service hours for all rehearsals and performances. Instrumentation of this group varies each year depending on the musical chosen. Our Spring 2022 Musical is Something Rotten!

Other Courses Offered

AP Music Theory

This one-year course is designed to prepare the student for the Advanced Placement Examination. The course will develop the students' ability to recognize, understand and describe the basic materials and processes of music that are heard or presented in a musical score. Students will develop their aural, sight-singing, compositional, and analytical skills through the study of diatonic & chromatic harmony, counterpoint, melody, meter, score reading, ear training (recognition, dictation & error detection), sight-singing and the terminology used in music. Elements of jazz and 20th-century classical music will also be discussed. For students grade 10-12.

Guitar Performance & Theory

This one-year course is designed to teach music through hands-on experience. The course is designed for the beginning music student who wishes to learn the guitar. The course will focus on: The fundamentals of music, such as reading and writing music notation in various styles, including standard notation, lead sheets, chord progressions, jazz symbols, and tablature; Basic ear training; Fundamental guitar technique, including single-note melodies, chords, and classical Spanish finger-style; Exposing musicians to a variety of live and recorded musical performances, including traditional (folk), popular (rock), classical, and jazz. For students of all grades.

American Popular Music

This one-year course surveys the development of Popular Music in the United States over the last 150 years. The Popular Music industry in America will be explored not only in terms of its historical evolution, but also the interaction of European, African, and Latin American cultures; the influence and evolution of mass media and technology; and its role as a symbol of identity in terms of race, class, gender, and generation. Students will analyze recorded audio and video performances, as well as live performances, and discuss their impact on current musical styles. For students grades 10-12.

Music Technology

During intersession: This one semester course is open to all students. It is designed to introduce students to the following aspects of music technology: basis computer/table skills, microphones, principles of sound, MIDI, computer-based sequencing and notation, mixers and mixing, cables, sampling, digital audio, recording principle, effects processing, and audio in live performance. Students will learn 21st century applications of their art through the hands-on use of Garage Band, Mixcraft, JamStudio, Sibelius, and NoteFlight, as well as live sound reinforcement. Students will arrange and compose music for this course, as well as record their own and others’ performances. Experience reading music and/or performing on an instrument/voice is recommended, but not required. For students grades 10-12.