The LA SIERRA UNIVERSITY WIND ENSEMBLE is a select group of young musicians united by their interest in music. It is devoted to the development of musicianship, artistic expression, and cultivating new audiences for this wonderful medium. Membership is by audition and includes undergraduate and graduate students who represent the varied majors and programs at La Sierra University, as well as staff and community members who find they cannot give up playing. Most of the student members of the ensemble receive scholarships for their participation.
The Wind Ensemble performs for church services, campus events, schools, and civic programs throughout the Inland Empire of Southern California. In 2004, the Wind Ensemble performed at the national conference of the Christian Instrumental Directors Association in Tennessee. They also participated in the CSU Fresno Collegiate Wind Festival. They were one of ten featured ensembles at the College Band Directors National Association West/Northwest Division Conference in Reno in 2010, and shared the gala evening concert with Cal State University Fresno at the 34th Annual Dr. Lawrence R. Sutherland Wind Festival in March 2013.
The La Sierra University Wind Ensemble was invited by Maestro Massimiliano Messieri to participate in two music festivals in Europe this summer. Maestro Messieri, who presented master classes at La Sierra in 2015 and 2016 for student conductors and composers and Wind Ensemble members, was so impressed by the faculty and students’ hard work and ethics, that he asked the Wind Ensemble to debut his original composition Dreamland at two invitation-only music festivals, The Forfest and Maskfest International New Music Festivals. The Wind Ensemble will also premiere works by local Italian composers, La Sierra University students, and Professor Giovanni Santos. The group will travel to the Czech Republic, Austria, and the Republic of San Marino, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, June 26 – July 11, 2017.