Welcome to the Wilton High School Band Page

The Wilton High School Band is open to all students who currently play a band instrument and students who have never played before. Students in the band will develop tone production, embouchure development, intonation, rhythmic reading and accuracy and musical expression will be stressed, instrumental technique, ensemble musicianship, music literacy, critical listening, and harmony and theory. Students will demonstrate these skills at a proficient or accomplished level through performance of appropriate and varied literature.

Public appearances are required in the venues of home football games, a parade, and three concerts during the school year. Marching Band competitions are optional, but encouraged. All participants in competitive marching band are required to rehearse one week prior to the commencement of school (band camp) for the purpose of advanced preparation in the curricular area of marching band. Out-of-school practice for marching band occurs in September through November.

Co-curricular performance opportunities include concerts, marching band, jazz band, region and all-state festivals, the annual music trip, and community events.

FAQs

If you are an incoming Freshman, you will be placed in one of two band classes (send an email to Mr. Williams if you’re confused!):
- Concert Band (if you play wind instruments)
- Percussion Ensemble (if you are a percussionist)
After your Freshman year, you may audition for:
- Wind Ensemble
You may be able to explore options with your guidance counselor that allows you to “double” your band class with another instrumental ensemble or science lab.
If you can’t perform in a band class this year, there are multiple groups like marching band or jazz band that you may perform in the beginning of the school year! More information will be released closer to the school year.
Yes; speak with your guidance counselor about options that work for your schedule. If you are taking Percussion Ensemble, Concert Band or Wind Ensemble, you may be able to “double” the class with another instrumental ensemble or science lab, meaning you will come to bandfor half of the block, and then go to the other class, or vice versa.
Yes, of course! All are welcome to join the band no matter your experience! Speak with Mr. Williams and he will get you signed up!
All band ensembles participate in four annual concerts, music-department wide field trips, band social events, and workshops throughout the year. All bands perform together as one band in the winter concert, pops concert, and during the music trip. The main difference between the groups involve group size, difficulty of repertoire, and commitment outside of school.
Concert Band, Percussion Ensemble, and Jazz Band are both open to all Wilton High School students, regardless of previous playing experience. Those groups participate in all concerts with little to no out of school commitment, and perform a variety of repertoire.
Wind Ensemble is an auditioned group that performs advanced repertoire, and often unique repertoire that requires preparation outside of class. A successful completion of Concert Band will prepare students for admission into Wind Ensemble. The group often enjoys collaborating with other instrumental ensembles and various additional performing opportunities throughout the school year.
Select Jazz Ensemble is an auditioned, advanced ensemble that performs challenging repertoire and requires outstanding jazz skill and preparation outside of class. A high level of individual accountability is required for this ensemble. The group performs in additional rehearsals and concerts throughout the year, not limited to, but including
- Darien Jazz Jamboree
- The Annual John Rhodes Jazz Symposium
- National Jazz Festival in Philadelphia, PA
- Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival in Greenwich, CT
There are occasional after-school rehearsals before concerts or other important events, in addition to some assignments that need to be completed outside of class, totaling between 30 mins - 1 hour/week, if at all. The out-of-school commitment for Wind Ensemble and Select Jazz Ensemble is more demanding.
All WHS Band students are required to attend Graduation in June where they will perform alongside Choir and Orchestra students.
For our Fall, Winter, and Spring concerts, the attire is
Formal Concert Black
. For our Pops Concert in late Spring, students usually wear colorful, formal clothing. You can watch our
2023 Pops Concert here
for some ideas
There are four major concerts WHS Band performs in throughout the year:
October: Fall Band Concert
The WHS Band Fall Choral Concert features all band ensembles in addition to the 8th Grade Band from Middlebrook School. There is a rehearsal the evening prior to this concert.
December: WHS Music Winter Concert
The Winter Concert features WHS Music Ensembles, including collaborations between instrumental and vocal ensembles. The concert is a showcase of the orchestral, choral, and band departments that rapidly switches between genres and ensembles. This concert includes two after-school rehearsals prior to the concert
March: WHS Band Scholarship Concert
The Scholarship Concert features all band ensembles and jazz groups. Sometimes, this concert is combined with the choir or orchestra. A portion of program advertisements are used for scholarships given to graduating WHS band students at the end of the year.
Late May/Early June: Pops Concert
The Pops concert features WHS Music Ensembles in a showcase of contemporary pop music. All the repertoire in the concert is selected and voted on by WHS Music students.
The CMEA Western Region High School Festival is a two-day event in late January that provides students the opportunity to be challenged through the performance of high quality repertoire and to develop relationships with other high caliber young musicians from the Fairfield County area. Should a student audition for and be accepted into the festival, they will participate in a series of rehearsals and concluding performance of high-quality band repertoire with a guest conductor, in a large band ensemble.
All information regarding registration, audition, and timeline, can be found here.
If students are accepted into and participate in the Western Region festival, they may audition for the All State festival that takes place in late March.
WHS Music Boosters is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization run by parents and dedicated to supporting quality music education in our school. You can find out more about them here. Their goal is to have 100% of WHS music families join the Music Boosters and money they raise through dues and contributions goes directly to supporting the music program at our school. If your family needs support paying for music related trips/ items please reach out to them through their page about the possibility of full or partial scholarships.
Each year the Music Boosters facilitates student selling of pies around Thanksgiving time. For each pie sold, students receive money towards their annual music trip. This is a great fundraising opportunity for our students! Find out more on the Music Booster page.