Thank you for your interest in playing with The Westwinds Community Band.

We are a group of adults who like to have fun and play band music, distinctly in that order. The band was the brainchild and formed by retired Vancouver music teacher, Walter E. Cleland in 1976. Many of the original members previously played with the Clark County Band which in turn was an outgrowth of the Clark County Fair Band. Since inception, the band has served Vancouver and Clark County by providing a place for band musicians to play concert band music and providing musical entertainment by performed throughout the area. The band has also represented Vancouver by performing in the Portland area and Dallas, Oregon and Puyallup and Seattle, Washington.

The band performs concert band music of all types including symphonic, popular, patriotic, holiday, and sometimes novelty genres. The difficulty level is mainly ‘easy high school’ although we occasionally tackle a harder piece. Performances are voluntary and planned well in advance. Substitutes are sometimes called to replace critical players for performances as needed.

We normally meet on Tuesday evenings, 7:00 to 8:30 PM September-June. Rehearsal venues vary by availability, but are usually a school band room or church multi-purpose room in the Vancouver area. We prefer regular attendance, but absences do happen. E-mail or text notices of absence is appreciated

Membership is by invitation and open to adults who are out of high school. Younger band students are sometimes invited to join as associate members if their parents are band members. We do not have a formal audition process. Mostly, potential members are invited to come and play in rehearsal to see if they are a right fit for the band.

The band askes each member to contribute $25.00 as an annual dues each September. The rest of the band’s small operating budget is covered by performances honorariums and donations. The band is incorporated Washington State as a small non-profit and is an IRS 503c charity. Anyone who has a Fred Meyer Reward Card can contribute for free by registering their card online and designating the Westwinds Community Band as their recipient charity. Fred Meyers will donate 1 cent for every dollar spent by the card holder to the designated charity.

I hope this information is helpful for you. Please fill out the new member form below and click Submit to return it if you are interested in playing with us.