Western Band Association

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The Western Band Association (WBA) is a nonprofit organization that promotes high school music education in California, Arizona and Nevada. Specifically, the WBA organizes many marching band competitions for high school students. Its championships event is considered to be the second-largest single marching contest in the country. [1]

Contents

In addition to marching band events, WBA also organizes concert band festivals, symposia, and musical and leadership clinics. In 2008, over 12,000 students in 133 bands performed in WBA events in multiple competitions hosted throughout the state. [1]

History

The Western Band Association was started in 1979 by marching band directors from five Northern and Central California high schools: Mike Rubino (Live Oak High School), Ramiro Barrera (James Logan High School), Dan Smith (Independence High School), Gary Runsten (Modesto High School) and Mel Stratton (Clovis High School).

In 1984, Gary Gilroy (Moreau High School) coined the name "WSMBC" Western States Marching Band Conference, which would later be shortened to WBA by Ramiro Barrera (James Logan High School) in 2002. The first WSMBC Championship was held in conjunction with the 1984 Music Bowl Prelims at James Logan High School. In 1995, John Hannan (Mission Viejo High School) helped expand the organization's efforts to include Southern California bands as well.

In recent years[ when? ], bands have also competed under the "WBA" banner from nearby states, including Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. The scoring system also grew to become a two-tiered criteria based curriculum designed for bands of various size memberships, assuring that the small band would have the same opportunity as the large band to achieve a high score measuring their unique orchestration and design options.

In 2006, the competition schedule has grown to offer consecutive contests in each of the three Regions (Northern, Central and Southern California) helping to alleviate the costs of travel for the bands.

In 2012, James Logan High School and Ayala High School tied for first place at the WBA Championships, with both scoring 93.40. However, the tie was broken based on Ayala's General Effect score. The tiebreaker settled Ayala as the WBA Champions.

Scoring system

Each individual judge is assigned to a specific caption (Individual and Ensemble Music, Individual and Ensemble Visual, General Effect, Auxiliary, and Percussion). General Effect and Music are each worth 30% of the total score, Visual is worth 20%, and Auxiliary and Percussion are each worth 10%.

Awards are released by division. The band with the highest award points for each caption per division is awarded a caption award, while the band with the most overall points in each division is awarded first place-prize. The band with most points in A/AA/AAA combined classes and AAAA/AAAAA combined classes are awarded a "sweepstakes award", with that band removed from the rankings of their class; the next band in placement in that class is moved to "first place" and so on (only for that class). Each competition will have two Sweepstakes winners, one each for A/AA/AAA and AAAA/AAAAA.

Marching band circuit

The WBA organizes a marching band circuit with competitions held throughout October and November leading up to the circuit championship competition. Classifications were updated in 2021. [2] They were updated again in 2023. There are currently five divisions:

Class champions at the WBA Championships are determined at the conclusion of preliminary competition at championships. After prelims, the bands then move on to one of two finals competitions: the A/AA/AAA Championship and the AAAA/AAAAA Championship. The top three bands from each division move on to their respective championship and the remaining field is filled by the next highest scoring bands.

The Finals field is composed of:

Past champions

Below is an incomplete list of past class champions and sweepstakes winners:

Class champions

YearClass AClass AAClass AAAClass AAAAClass AAAAA
2000Riverbank Trabuco Hills Buchanan James Logan
2001 Buena Live Oak BuchananJames Logan
2002Gilroy Bullard BuchananJames Logan
2003 Newbury Park Valley Christian El Toro Clovis West
2004ModestoLive Oak Valley View Cerritos James Logan
2005Newbury ParkLive Oak Fred C. Beyer Trabuco HillsJames Logan
2006Newbury Park Independence Fred C. BeyerNogalesJames Logan
2007Live OakIndependenceFred C. Beyer Fountain Valley James Logan
2008Live OakMadera SouthFred C. BeyerEl DiamanteJames Logan
2009Live OakValley ChristianLos AlamitosTrabuco HillsJames Logan
2010Live OakClovis NorthLos AlamitosEl DiamanteJames Logan
2011PeninsulaClovis NorthBashaGranite Bay Ayala
2012 Damien Live OakTrabuco HillsEl DiamanteAyala
2013DamienCerritosNogalesEl DiamanteUpland
2014Live OakCerritosTrabuco HillsNogalesAyala
2015The King's AcademyCerritosClovis EastGranite BayAyala
2016The King's AcademyFred C. BeyerCerritosMission ViejoJames Logan
2017IndependenceKingsburgTrabuco HillsGranite BayJames Logan
2018Championships cancelled
2019The King's AcademyOak GroveMission ViejoClovis NorthChino Hills
2020Season cancelled
2022The King's AcademyEl ToroTrabuco HillsGahrChino Hills
2023The King's AcademyNorthTrabuco HillsUplandChino Hills

Sweepstakes winners

Combined A/AA/AAA Grand Champions

Previously known as the Class A/AA Championship.

Year3rd Place2nd Place1st Place
2000 Valley Christian Clayton Valley Trabuco Hills
2001 Bullard Aliso Niguel Live Oak
2002Aliso NiguelBullardLive Oak
2003Aliso NiguelBullardValley Christian
2004 Independence Valley View Valley Christian
2005Valley ChristianAliso Niguel Fred C. Beyer
2006 Clovis Valley ChristianFred C. Beyer
2007Aliso Niguel Chino Hills Fred C. Beyer
2008Fred C. Beyer Clovis East Aliso Niguel
2009Clovis EastFred C. Beyer Los Alamitos
2010 Clovis North Valley ChristianLos Alamitos
2011Valley Christian Rancho Cucamonga Basha
2012Los AlamitosRancho CucamongaTrabuco Hills
2013Los Alamitos Nogales Clovis North
2014ChaffeyCerritosTrabuco Hills
2015 Live Oak Clovis EastCerritos
2016Los AlamitosCerritosTrabuco Hills
2017CerritosFountain ValleyTrabuco Hills
2018Championships cancelled
2019Los AlamitosRowlandMission Viejo
2020Season cancelled
2022The King's AcademyFountain ValleyTrabuco Hills
2023BranhamThe King's AcademyTrabuco Hills

Combined AAAA/AAAAA Grand Champions

Previously known as the AAA/AAAA Championship.

*Denotes a tie overall score. However, the tie was broken by a higher general effect score.

Year3rd Place2nd Place1st Place
2000 Clovis West Mission Viejo James Logan
2001Clovis WestMission ViejoJames Logan
2002Clovis West Ayala James Logan
2003 Ayala Clovis WestMission Viejo
2004 Upland Mission ViejoJames Logan
2005Mission ViejoUplandJames Logan
2006AyalaMission ViejoJames Logan
2007Mission ViejoUplandJames Logan
2008AyalaMission ViejoJames Logan
2009Mission ViejoAyalaJames Logan
2010 Homestead Mission ViejoJames Logan
2011UplandJames Logan Ayala
2012El DiamanteJames Logan*Ayala*
2013Mission ViejoJames LoganUpland
2014Mission ViejoAyalaJames Logan
2015UplandJames LoganAyala
2016Amador ValleyHomesteadJames Logan
2017HomesteadAyalaJames Logan
2018Championships cancelled
2019UplandJames LoganChino Hills
2020Season cancelled
2022James LoganVista MurrietaChino Hills
2023Clovis East High SchoolJames LoganChino Hills

Regional Championships

The 2021 season had Regional Championships held at 1 site in each region.
James Logan Invitational Band Tournament3rd Place2nd Place1st Place
Class A Mountain House IndependenceKing's Academy
Class AA San Benito Oak Grove Santa Teresa
Class AAA Monta Vista Branham Leigh
Class AAAA Lynbrook Milpitas Granite Bay
Class AAAAA Amador Valley HomesteadJames Logan
Kingsburg Viking Classic3rd Place2nd Place1st Place
Class AExeter UnionTempletonSelma
Class AAHanfordSunnysideMadera South
Class AAAClovis West
Class AAAAGolden WestKingsburgClovis
Class AAAAALemooreClovis EastClovis North
Trabuco Hills Tournament in the Hills3rd Place2nd Place1st Place
Class ALaguna HillsTorranceDon Antonio Lugo
Class AAPalisades CharterMission ViejoRowland
Class AAAMurrieta ValleyEl ToroMira Costa
Class AAAALa CanadaTrabuco HillsUpland
Class AAAAAAyalaVista MurrietaChino Hills

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Grantham, Jon (2009-03-26). "WBA President's report 03/26". Western Band Association. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  2. "2021 Classification". Western Band Association. Western Band Association. Retrieved 18 October 2021.