Lamar High School Band and Orchestra Ensembles
Marching Band
The Lamar High School Marching Band is one of the premier performing ensembles in HISD. The band is built on a culture of excellence and pushes its members to become better performers every season. This is the main band class that all band students participate in during the fall semester. Marching Band rehearsals start roughly three weeks before the start of the fall semester and continue into November. During this time, members of the band compete in several local, UIL, and USBands marching band contests around the state of Texas. Members of the Lamar Marching Band also play at every Lamar High School varsity football game and pep rally throughout the Fall.
Varsity Band
The Lamar High School Varsity Band is the premier concert ensemble at Lamar. This ensemble is comprised of the highest performing students in the Lamar band program and performs concerts for UIL competitions as well as performances on Lamar’s campus. This is one of the primary band classes offered in the spring semester and starts as soon as the marching band season is finished. This ensemble rehearses and performs from November until June every year. On top of performing at The UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest, students in this ensemble also compete at UIL Solo and Ensemble and are encouraged to study music from their primary instrument’s solo repertoire.
Non-Varsity Band
The Lamar High School Non-Varsity Band one of the performing concert ensembles at Lamar. This ensemble is comprised of students in the Lamar band program and performs concerts for UIL competitions as well as performances on Lamar’s campus. This is one of the primary band classes offered in the spring semester and starts as soon as the marching band season is finished. This ensemble rehearses and performs from November until June every year. On top of performing at The UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest, students in this ensemble also compete at UIL Solo and Ensemble and are encouraged to study music from their primary instrument’s solo repertoire.
Percussion Orchestra
The Lamar High School Percussion Orchestra is the main ensemble for our percussion students enrolled in the percussion class. This ensemble is comprised of percussionists in the Lamar band program and performs a summative solo and ensemble concert at the end of every spring. They also compete at UIL Solo and Ensemble and are encouraged to study music from their instrument’s solo repertoire. While preparing this music, our percussion students also perform with either the Lamar Varsity or Non-Varsity Concert Bands at the UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest. This is the primary band class for percussion students at Lamar and starts as soon as the marching band season is finished. This ensemble rehearses and performs from November until June every year.
Jazz Band
The Lamar High School Jazz Band is a supplementary ensemble made up of students from the rest of the Lamar band program who want to pursue extra instruction in Jazz. This ensemble performs jazz standards as well as contemporary works and performs casual gigs, concerts, and festival performances throughout the school year. This ensemble is open to all students in the Lamar band program and rehearses and performs from the start to the end of the school year.
Sinfonia Orchestra
The Sinfonia Orchestra is the varsity string orchestra at Lamar High School. This orchestra performs advanced repertoire and is designed for students with at least two years of prior ensemble experience or one year of private tutoring on a stringed instrument. They perform and compete at various concerts and invitationals such as the UIL Concert & Sightreading Contest in April. Students in this ensemble are not only expected to be exceptional players but also exhibit exemplary academic achievement year-around and must lead by example.
Beginning Band
The Lamar Beginning Band is a class designed to introduce new students with no band experience to the skills and knowledge required to perform with the other ensembles offered at Lamar. This class is designed for true beginners looking to learn an instrument for the first time. Many of our students in this class will “move up” into our other band classes during their first school year. This class is designed to give new students individualized instruction in order to make sure that they are prepared for the rest of their time as a Lamar band student.
Color Guard
The Lamar High School Color Guard is the visual ensemble for the Lamar Marching Band. Students in this ensemble are instructed in dance, flag, rifle, sabre, and any other visual work that is required of their marching show. Members of the color guard perform at all band contests and events are are an integral part of our final product. This is a year long course that is paired with winterguard in the spring semester. For new members, dance or music experience is preferred, but not required.
Winter Guard
The Lamar High School Winterguard is the band program’s visual ensemble for the spring semester. Unlike in marching band, students involved in the winterguard program perform at guard specific contests through The Texas Colorguard Circuit (TCGC). Members of the winterguard program learn their own show for the spring semester and receive one on one instruction on their equipment. As in the fall, for new members, dance or music experience is preferred, but not required.