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A True Community Band
The
San Gabriel
Valley Concert Band is continuing the
tradition of
community bands
which began with westward expansion in the 1800s. As
soon as a town was
able to erect a band shell and start a community band,
the townspeople
knew that civilization had arrived.
Since
1940, the San Gabriel Valley Concert Band has served
local
Southern California communities with fine concert band
music.
Semi-Professional, amateur and retired musicians come
from the far
reaches of the San Gabriel Valley and beyond to play
with the concert
band. The band's repertoire includes a variety of
styles. In addition
to traditional marches, the band plays
classical
transcriptions,
big band songs, show tunes and pieces written
specifically for concert band, both traditional and
modern. Presently
sponsored
by the El Monte-Rosemead Adult School, the San Gabriel
Valley Concert
Band
rehearses at Mountain View High School in El Monte on
Wednesday nights.
Concerts are held throughout the year. Check our calendar
page for upcoming concerts.
Our
Director
Michael Drange, the
present director
is a graduate
of California State University Los Angeles. He began
his musical
training at age six in Morgantown, West Virginia,
where he studied
piano. He began playing saxophone in the 5th grade and
now holds a
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Saxophone Performance from
Cal State Los
Angeles, where he studied with Dr. Jeffrey Benedict.
He also has a
Master of Music Degree in Commercial Music Composing
and Arranging. He
has studied conducting with Dr. Thomas Miyake, Dr.
William Belan and
Dr. David Buck. In addition to his duties as the
director of the band,
Mr. Drange teaches instrumental and choral music in
the Garvey School
District in Rosemead California where he was named
Teacher of the Year
in 2006.
The band is
open to all adults (18 and over) who play a band
instrument. Rehearsals
are held at Mountain View High School - room 302
(2900 Parkway Drive,
El Monte,
CA, 91732 - Get
a
Map) at 7:00 PM each Wednesday. (Check our
calendar
page for the rehearsal and performance schedule)
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