Alana officially joined Colorado Brass at the beginning of the pandemic, but didn’t play her first concert with the band until March 2021. She’s honored to be serving as secretary of the board for a second season and also serves as development coordinator, volunteer coordinator, and concert manager. A marine biologist by education, Alana has been playing drums and percussion for 18 years and, other than during the pandemic, has never gone more than four months without making music, a fact she is very grateful for.
As a musician, Alana has performed across the US and all over Europe and Australia, including England, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and several cities in Queensland, Aus. She’s served as section leader and/or principle timpanist for a combined total of 11 years and was a guest artist with the Australian Medical Student Orchestra (Brisbane, Qld, Aus) for their 2018 season. As an educator, Alana has taught everything from small group to private lessons in traditional marching snare, rock drum set, orchestral percussion, and concert snare & mallet techniques. Over the years, she has had the opportunity to play a myriad of styles including classical orchestral percussion; rock and jazz drum set; African, Cuban, Brazilian & Latin hand & marching drums; and Japanese Taiko drums. Playing with Colorado Brass is the fist time Alana has ventured into the world of brass band percussion and, while she totally sees the allure, the percussion track for musicals is still her favourite style to play. (Brass band is a close second though.) While earning her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Science & Biology from the University of Tampa (Tampa, FL), Alana also studied Broadway Percussion at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Music & Performing Arts (New York City, NY) where she had the immense privilege to play the drum track for On Your Feet!, the Gloria Estefan musical, at the Marquis Theatre. While pursuing her Master’s degree in Marine Biology & Ecology from James Cook University (Townsville, Qld, Aus), Alana co-founded the Townsville Drum Collective, a Brazilian-style marching band, and helped it grow from five members to fifteen within its first year. TDC became a city-wide favourite so quickly the professional rugby team, the Queensland Cowboys, hired the ensemble to be their official pre-game and halftime entertainment. Since moving back to the US in 2019, Alana has performed with community ensembles all across the Front Range, including Colorado Wind Ensemble, Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra, the VFW Band out of Fort Logan, and the Denver Pops Orchestra, amongst many others. Additionally, she has performed alongside professional groups and tribute bands on tour through Colorado, and gigs around the community as a sub and regular pit percussionist for Performing Arts Academy. |