Cavalier Marching Band
The Cavalier Marching Band is a 200-piece marching band at the University of Virginia. The band's director, William Pease, received a masters of music at James Madison University and was formerly the band director at Western Michigan University. A newcomer among the ranks of collegiate marching bands, it was formed in 2004 after a funding gift in 2003 by University of Virginia benefactor Carl Smith. The portion of the gift specifically earmarked to endow a new marching band was $1.5 million, and an additional $22 million was included towards a new performing arts center.
History
In the years leading up to the formation of the Cavalier Marching Band, the University of Virginia had grown to be the largest university in Division 1-A with a scramble band rather than a marching band. Though many still enjoyed the performances of this type of band, other students and alumni wished to have a larger musical presence at football and basketball games. The banning of the scramble band from all future Continental Tire Bowls provided the impetus, and alumni pressure, required for the athletic department to seek funding for a new band. The donation received not only paid for the Cavalier Marching Band in full, but also for a new music and arts center that promises to vastly improve these programs at the university.
William Pease, former director of Western Michigan University's marching band program, was hired to direct this new band, and one of his first moves as band director was to invite members of the Virginia Pep Band to join the Cavalier Marching Band. Though three pep band members did "cross the line", other pep band members declined, saying they prefered instead self-governance. In further recruitment efforts, Pease went on to offer positions in the band to musicians at Virginia Piedmont Community College in the spirit of involving the entire community in the athletic events of the university. This move, though widely popular in the Charlottesville community, was criticized by pep band proponents who thought the UVa band should consist of only UVa students, as a roundabout way to assembling more members. Yet because of Pease's reaching out on many levels, the band grew to 200 pieces in its very first year of performance, over 90% being UVa students and nearly 10% being from the greater Charlottesville community. Thus nearly from its inception, the Cavalier Marching Band was the largest organized musical ensemble ever to gather on the Grounds of the University of Virginia.
The Cavalier Marching Band's first football game performance was on September 11, 2004, when Virginia defeated UNC 56–24 before a crowd of 62,790 – 102% of capacity and the second-largest crowd to witness a home football game at the University of Virginia.
Some prominent members include, but not limited to, drum major Steven "Woody" Wingfield (c/o '07), teaching assistants Drew Ross and Sean McCroskey, Jefferson Scholar Justin Starr (c/o '08), and meteorologist David Knight (c/o '06).
Other Marching Bands at UVa
The earliest appearence of a marching band at the University of Virginia was in 1941 when a small student-run group first marched at a home football game. This marching band performed until 1964 when it's membership waned and it's performances at football ceased. Although too small to play for football, the band continued to exist until a rebuilding period began in the 1970's. Adopting the scramble band paradigm that had become popular in the Ivy League, the band changed it's name to the University of Virginia Pep Band, and again played for football games in 1974.
The first faculty-run band at UVa athletics, known as the UVa Sports Band, was started by UVa's athletic department in 1993 as a marching alternative to the Pep Band, but played for only a few home football games before being disbanded. (For more information on the 24-piece UVa Sports Band of 1993, see the history section of the pep band article.)
External Links
Categories: Marching bands