What is the Western Band Association?

Ayala's percussion ensemble is a year- round program starting from the summer and ending in the spring. From June to November, we compete with our school marching band and color guard in an organization called the Western Band Association or WBA. The Western Band Association's mission statement is "to ensure a high quality performing experience, educationally sound and in full support of the total band program." They also believe that "competition is a means to encourage and reward creativity, artistry and excellence in design and performance while providing a standard that will educate all students in such a way that they will grow to understand and evolve to the greatest level of their potential. It is our intent to encourage and reward the training that augments the development of quality musical and visual skills."
The Western Band Association's journey to existence is quite interesting. In January of 1979, a group of band directors met to transform the face of marching band in Northern and Central California. These band directors were Mike Rubino (Live Oak HS), Ramiro Barrera (Lincoln HS), Dan Smith (Independence HS), Gary Runsten (Modesto HS) & Mel Stratton (Clovis HS). They all shared a common goal which was to establish an organization that would provide a competitive performance opportunity. These founders designed score sheets and established standard scoring methods to assure the bands the maximum competitive experienced envisioned. The sponsors of the first show in the fall of 1979 were Modesto, Live Oak, and Independence. The first WSMBC Championship was held along with the 1984 Music Bowl Prelims at James Logan HS and the first WSMBC Champion was Independence High School. In 1995, WSMBA was able to spread its activities and influence into Southern California through the efforts of John Hannan (Mission Viejo). He helped dig a path to a consistent set of rules and scoring basis that would unify the goals and competitive experience for bands all throughout the state. Over the past few years, bands have come from Washington, Oregon Nevada, Arizona and Utah to share this experience. The scoring system also became more sophisticated. It was transformed into a two-tiered criteria designed for bands of various size memberships. This assured that the smaller bands would have the same opportunity as the larger bands in earning a high score and the credibility they deserved for their performances. In 2002, under the leadership of Ramiro Barrera (James Logan), WSMBC changed its name to Western Band Association (WBA). In 2006, the competition schedule grew to offer competitions between the three regions: Northern, Central and Southern California. WBA now hopes to elevate their competition venues by following their mission statement in years to come.

The source I used was http://www.westernbands.org/about.php. It was a very good source because it provided detailed information and a lot of details about the history of WBA. The source I used was also WBA's main website which also provided official contact information such as the mailing address, phone number, and the administration members. WBA is an amazing organization to perform in and it will continue to improve in the future.

Western Band Association - WBA. "Western Band Association - WBA." Western Band Association - WBA. Western Band Association - WBA, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016