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Our Mission: Passing It On!

The Oregon Coast Lab Band Program is reaching across communities to provide a positive environment for all youth to enhance their musical and personal growth. We strive to develop self-esteem and confidence through performance. Lab Band encourages respect, moral character, and teamwork in a family atmosphere.

Lab Band is designed so that each young musician in the program has the same opportunities to advance through the band levels at their own pace or level of desire. They learn quickly that a band is a team working toward a common goal of enjoyment of playing music for themselves and their audience. The older students mentor the younger students, putting into practice our motto, "Passing It On".

In 1992, the programs founders, Greg and Patti Young envisioned a band program which would enable young musicians to expand their musical involvement through education and performance. Beginning with three students, the program currently services as many as 160. Our musicians, ranging from 9 to 21 years of age, are organized by skill into four bands: Beginning/Junior, Senior, and Evolution.

The Lab Band Program Association views its role as complementary to existing community programs. Therefore, Lab Band musicians are required to either actively participate in a school band or take private lessons. In addition, we ask our musicians to commit the required time to their music to the full expression of their talents.

The Lab Band program reaches the community through its performances. In 1996, the musicians performed at over 50 social functions for numerous clubs and organizations. Since 1997, the Oregon Coast Lab Band was featured at the South Coast Dixieland Clambake (Coos Bay, OR), where 10 of our musicians were invited to share the stage with the professional bands. We provided entertainment for the 1996 AFL-CIO Labor Unions picnic which was attended by Governor Kitzhaber and U.S. Senator Wyden. The band has also represented the Bay Area at the 1996 State Holiday Festival in Salem. Also, the Oregon Coast Lab Band musicians return to their communities their passion for music and its importance in their daily lives by playing several benefit concerts throughout the year.

The Oregon Coast Lab Band has also performed at several other regional and national level jazz festivals. They have performed at the Medford Jazz Jubilee every year since 1997. Evolution has performed at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee in California each June sine 2001. In 2002, Evolution also had the honor of performing at the Glen Miller Jazz Festival in Clarinda, Iowa. Evolution has also performed at the Sun Valley Jazz Jubilee in Idaho since 2004.

The goals for the future of the Lab Band Program involve our desire to make the program rewarding to participants, parents, and audiences. Our primary goal is to make the program available to all young people without regard to their financial resources. Also, we would like to see the Lab Band program expand to other communities. Finally, we desire to express our professionalism by representing our community within our State, and to represent our State within our Nation.

In order to realize these goals, the Lab Band Program Association is currently organizing strategies to seek community support and sponsorships. The Lab Band Program Association is a non-profit organization, solely set up to promote and encourage youth involvement in music.