There are many community orchestras, but there is only ONE community band. Director Wallace Umber and the Santa Monica Community College Emeritus College Band is the one and only community big band in and around Santa Monica.
We give four FREE concerts a year in the Santa Monica and West Los Angeles area. Over the years, the band has grown and now has a membership of 65 musicians ranging from players in their teens to those in their 80s. “Playing in a band at any age is meaningful and enjoyable,” says Maestro Umber. “If you can play a band instrument, we would welcome you.”

Our next concert:
Sunday, March 2, 2008
3:00 pm at
John Adams Middle School
Auditorium
1625 16th St.
Santa Monica, CA

A little bit about our band leader:

Director Wallace Umber of the Santa Monica Community College Emeritus College Band is the original founder of this community ensemble which credits its beginnings at the Venice Adult School in 1968. It moved over to the Emeritus College in 1979.

Maestro Umber comes from a musical family. His mother played violin and his father played trumpet. While he started his musical education on the violin at the age of nine, he later studied the mellophone, French horn and the trumpet. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1950 with a B.A. in Music. He also received a Masters of Music Education from USC in 1961. He went on to teach music in Los Angeles at the Elementary, Junior High and High School levels for 36 years.

During his years as a teacher and band director, Umber amassed an eclectic collection of more than 800 musical arrangements. In his library, one can find not only classical pieces, but an array of marches, musical show tunes, pop, swing, jazz and even ethnic music. And the Santa Monica Community College Emeritus College Band has the privilege of making these musical compositions come alive!