Mission and Musicians

The Sacramento Symphonic Winds (SSW) is a symphonic wind ensemble or "wind orchestra" that performs a wide range of music from classic and contemporary wind band masterpieces, to popular music. Our twofold mission is to provide quality musical performances for audiences in the greater Sacramento community and to offer local musicians a challenging and rewarding musical experience in an encouraging environment. We celebrate the role of community bands and wind ensembles in the musical and cultural life of America. The SSW was founded in 2002 by Dr. Les Lehr. The Sacramento Symphonic Winds is currently under the direction of Dr. Matthew Morse.

We seek to perform challenging wind music at a near-professional level. Our instrumentation is stable, and an interview and/or audition is required for new members. Our musicians come from a broad range of occupations and backgrounds.

During each performance season, we play several major concerts featuring classics of the wind ensemble literature, selected transcriptions of orchestral masterpieces, and works by contemporary composers. In addition to these formal concerts, we play joint concerts with local schools and community colleges, music festivals, and also fulfill occasional performance requests for small ensemble events.

SSW rehearses Tuesday evenings at Tim's Music, 6818 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael, CA 95608

Affiliations

SSW is a full member of the Sacramento Valley Symphonic Band Association (SVSBA), which provides us with an insurance liability umbrella and free access to a large library of music. SVSBA also acts as the fiduciary agent for SSW funds and provides tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status.

Community Support

The ensemble incurs many costs throughout a concert season, including the costs of maintaining its music library, setting-up various concert sites, printing programs and posters--these to cite just a few. These costs are paid by monies gathered by donations from the local community, by concert sponsors, and occasionally by band members. If you would like to support the band with a direct donation, please contact us. And, please, know that we greatly appreciate your donation.

Above all...Please attend our concerts. An important SSW continuing goal is to increase our audience size, and to provide a positive impact upon our community. You will recognize music that is on the shelves of every band's library which have become familiar audience pleasers, and you will also hear new compositions by today's composers pushing the limits of instrumental technique. But no matter the genre, each piece we begin in rehearsal and finish at a concert becomes a musical journey.

Postal mail: The Sacramento Symphonic Winds, PO Box 1503, Carmichael, CA 95609

Sacramento Symphonic Winds Board of Directors