Alden Banta is a Musician of New York.

Alden is a Broadway musician, currently playing in the pit of King Kong. (He’s pictured here in the pit of Hello Dolly!) He previously played Reed 4 in Hello Dolly!, meaning that he alternated between playing clarinet, bassoon, and baritone saxophone throughout the musical. That was Alden’s eighth full-time Broadway show, after previously subbing for countless shows in between jobs and spending five years playing in the orchestra for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Outside of Broadway, Alden plays in jazz big bands and other gigs as they pop up. At home, Alden spends time with his wife and daughter and makes bassoon reeds. He also crafts and sells Banta Boxes, wooden boxes that clip directly onto a music stand.

“Being a woodwind doubler, you have to be pretty flexible and you need to have skills on a lot of different instruments playing all types of music. I play jazz, classical, and pop, and I’ve played with singer-songwriters, in club date bands, and in wedding bands. I draw from all those experiences, because Broadway pulls from so many different musical directions. I enjoy the challenge of playing all the different instruments, even if I don’t always enjoy carrying them around.” #MusiciansofNY

View this post on: Instagram and Facebook!

#MusiciansofNY tells the stories of the working union musicians of New York, with posts about a new musician every Wednesday! Find more Musicians of New York stories here.