UD Marching Band is back--351 strong

4:53 p.m., Aug. 24, 2005--One of the first truly UD experiences incoming students will have as they begin the 2005-06 school year will be a performance by UD’s Marching Band.

The band, 351 strong--a new record--will play at New Student Convocation at 10:30 a.m., Monday, Aug. 29, in the Bob Carpenter Center. Then, on Saturday, Sept. 10, the band performs at UD’s first football game when the Fightin’ Blue Hens take on the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks for a night game at Delaware Stadium.

Heidi I. Sarver, UD Marching Band director, said this season music themes will range from a tribute to James Bond movies, complete with the 007 themes, costumes and acting, to the Latin/jazz tunes of Chuck Mangione, the songs of Styx and Meatloaf and the Department of Music’s annual Calliope concert after the home game against James Madison University on Oct. 22.

Besides playing at athletic events, the band is scheduled to perform an exhibition for the Tournament of Bands Atlantic Coast Championships in Scranton, Pa., on Sunday, Nov. 13.

The band also will travel to Allentown, Pa., to perform in the Colgate Marching Band Festival, participate in the city of Newark’s Halloween parade and perform for Freshman Family Weekend, Sept. 17; Band Day, Sept. 24; and Homecoming, Oct. 8.

When asked how she coordinates and motivates 351 band members, Sarver said, “There is a hierarchy built into the program. Whether on or off the field, this structure is maintained in everything we do.”

Sarver and music coordinator, James P. Ancona, oversee everything. The rest is done with the help of four assistants, two graduate students and a 45-member student staff headed by four drum majors.

“Everyone on the student staff knows they are responsible for the actions of their peers--and they take it very seriously,” Sarver said.

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photos by Sarah Simon, AS ‘06

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