President’s Report
Music City 2005 Bowl Trip
It is 7:30AM Friday. As I look down into the atrium area of the Radisson Opryland Hotel, I’m taken aback by the sight of 300 marching band members in uniform, standing at attention as directors and staff walk slowly down the ranks. You could have heard a pin drop. Inspection! It is game day. This is the culmination of hundreds of hours of work and the last time that graduating seniors will wear the uniform of the Pride of Minnesota.
It all started for them on Tuesday with a 17-hour bus trip from Minneapolis to Nashville. Early Wednesday, morning it was back to work with a field rehearsal at Mt. Juliet High School. This was followed by a music rehearsal that afternoon at the hotel. On behalf of the Band Alumni, I presented Brian Zumwalde, a clarinet player, the “Distinguished Longevity Award” for his 13 years of marching with the band! (No, it did NOT take him that long to get his degree!). That night was the Big10/ACC Band Party in downtown Nashville.
Thursday morning came with a balmy 38 degrees and another rehearsal as the band was perfecting their halftime show, “The Music of Queen.” That afternoon a group left for the Coliseum to entertain fans at the Minnesota Social, while the rest of the band prepared for the annual “Battle of the bands.” It was a cold night, but the two bands heated up Nashville! My ears are
- President continued on page 4
Scholarship Fund Raiser
Step through the archway that was the tunnel entrance to Memorial Stadium – into the Heritage Gallery of the McNamara Alumni Center for the second annual Band Alumni Society Scholarship Fundraiser.
Join us Tuesday, February 21 for desserts, entertainment, door prizes, and fellowship to raise scholarship money for band students.
The highlight of this year’s event will be a silent auction. We’ve already got a few items and are hoping to find more before then.
Doors open at 7:00 PM; auction closes at 8:30. Can we top last year’s success of $4,000.00? Yes, but we need your help!
Here’s how you can help:
· Donate money
· Donate an auction item
· Attend the event
· Bid on an item,
We already have the following items;
· Fleece Gopher blanket
· Goldy bobblehead
· Maroon and Gold Fleece Poncho
· Stamp/scrapbook bundle
· Indoor MB Concert tickets
· Dinner with Jerry Luckhardt
· LP to CD transfer service
· UMAA Membership
But we could use more.
We’ll send an updated list to our email subscribers closer to the event – so you’ll know what to look forward to. Maybe we could
even have someone in Tucson offer a dinner party for other AZ bandies to bid on via email (?!).
Calendar of Events
Wind Ensemble
Tuesday, February 14, 7:30 PM
Ted Mann Concert Hall
BAS FundRaiser
Tuesday, February 21, 7:00 PM
McNamera Alumni Center
Symphonic Band
Wednesday, February 22, 7:30 PM
Ted Mann Concert Hall
Wind Ensemble
Tuesday, April 18, 7:30 PM
Ted Mann Concert Hall
Symphonic Band
Wednesday, April 19, 7:30 PM
Ted Mann Concert Hall
University Band
Thursday, April 20, 7:30 PM
Ted Mann Concert Hall
You can find a complete schedule of School of Music events at http://www.music.umn.edu/events/.
Mark your calendars for summer concert band:
Monday June 19 Minnehaha Park
Tuesday August 1 Lake Harriet
Rehearsal schedule TBD
Band Alumni Mourn the Loss of Gerald Prescott
Gerald Prescott, Director of Bands at Minnesota from 1932-1957, died of natural causes at a nursing home in Tampa, FL on November 20, 2005. He was 103.
“Gerry” Prescott was known as a great educator and organizer, as well as a stern disciplinarian with a “twinkle” in his eye for his students. The Minnesota Band was an established ensemble in 1932 – but it really came in to its own under his direction.
Prescott grew up in Iowa and received degrees from Upper Iowa University, and the University of Iowa. His early experience included Mason City, Iowa, where he directed a national champion high school band. This prepared him for his role as the University of Minnesota’s first full-time, credentialed bandmaster.
Prescott’s 25 years as Director of Bands included a busy concert schedule, as well as a variety of tours and radio broadcasts. He was an “early adopter” of several innovations in the band field. Early on, he recognized the
importance of having strong players on each part, not just concentrating them on the first part. In the 1950’s, he was one of the first to experiment with the wind ensemble as an alternative to the standard symphony band.
He was also a leader in school band technique. His publications were “state of the art” for many years. The Army tapped his expertise, where he rose to the rank of Major and prepared many military bandsmen during World War II.
Minnesota Band traditions getting their start under Prescott included the 22-1/2 inch step (still visible outside Room 4 NMA), band banquets and High School Band Day. The “Big Bass Drum”, the Gopher mascot and the Band Alumni Society were also created during his tenure.
Our alumni could say many great things about Gerald Prescott, but one of the best descriptions of his philosophy comes from his own words:
“Good music brings out the best in us. It has lasting effect on our personal lives and adds to the disciplines needed to be a successful professional adult human being”.
Upon leaving the band program in 1957, Gerry stayed on teaching at the U until 1967, when he moved to Florida. There he continued teaching for a while and then was involved in various business ventures.
He is survived by his wife June, daughter Marjorie Benjamin sons Roger and Jerry, as well as many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even one great-great grandchild. He also leaves behind a lasting legacy in the thousands of band members who were lucky enough to have learned from him. Thanks, Gerry!
And, thanks to Mike Gaffron for the description of the Prescott years in “Minnesota – Hats Off to Thee”, from which most of this article was derived.
2006 UMAA Annual Celebration with Sandra Day O'Connor
The UMAA will host Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at its 102nd Annual Celebration on Tuesday, May 23, 2006. The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and a 6 p.m. dinner on Northrop Mall. O'Connor's keynote address is set for 8 p.m. in Northrop Auditorium. Mark your calendar to hold this date. Ticket prices will be announced soon. Tickets go on sale February 15 through the Northrop Ticket Office at 612-624-2345.
UMBAS Updates Constitution and Bylaws
Members approved several amendments to the UMBAS Constitution and Bylaws at a General Membership meeting held September 23, 2005. The amended documents can be viewed on our website – www.umbandalum.org. Most of the changes simplify these documents and involve bringing them in to line with changes in our Society and the UMAA. Major changes were as follows:
CONSTITUTION
Regular membership in the Society is expanded to include any UMAA member choosing to be affiliated with our Society, not just former UofM band members. Executive Council membership was expanded to a minimum of seven members (we currently have 13). And, finally, if the Society is dissolved, any remaining funds will be transferred to the Friends of
- Updates continued on page 3
- Updates continued from page 2
the Band Endowment.
BYLAWS
“Associate Membership” is eliminated, leaving two membership classifications – Regular Member and Honorary Member - the latter being at the discretion of the Executive Council. A statement was also inserted that participation in Society events may be limited to those members who are former members of any U of M band.
Regarding the Executive Council, term of office will now be the calendar year – January 1 to December 31. This will allow us more consistent planning for our major event – Homecoming – which now always occurs right after new officers have been elected. Candidates for office must be regular members of UMBAS before being placed on the ballot. A statement was also inserted that allows the Executive Council to remove a Council member for cause. “Cause”
includes, but is not limited to, misuse of office, misappropriation of funds or repeated non-attendance of meetings without reasonable excuse. By separate action at the September 23 meeting, the membership extended the term of office for current Executive Council through December 31 2006.
The financial structure of UMBAS was also modified. “Old timers” will remember that we previously had three separate
budgets (including the Friends of the Band Endowment), depending on where we got our income and the purpose of expenditures. With the latest amendments, the Bylaws reflect current reality – a single, unified budget. The Friends of the Band Endowment, which is managed by the University of Minnesota Foundation, is no longer part of the Society’s “budget”, per se. We continue, however, to be involved in the Endowment through membership on the Endowment Committee.
These and a few other “consistency” changes should help the UMBAS function more smoothly in the future. Our thanks to the Constitution and Bylaws Committee – Matt Clark, Mike Gaffron, Kirk Juergens, Ralph Kumpula, Dave Malerich, Jim Monteith, Ellen Sorenson, Caroline Rosdahl and Charlie Smith - for their work on these revisions.
Event Recap
Band Alumni performed at a lot of events this fall, supporting several Gopher athletic teams.
The Picnic Band performed in the tailgating and east Metrodome lots prior to home football games. The crowds were quite friendly – even most of the Badger fans who came for the Wisconsin game.
With the marching band practicing on Friday nights prior to football games, the Alumni Band was pressed into action for three events: Volleyball on September 30, Women’s hockey on October 28, and Men’s hockey on November 11. Band attendance was a little sparse for the women’s hockey game (more on that later), but all three events went without incident.
We also played on Saturday, November 19 when the students were tied up with the Indoor Concert. This time the event was Gopher women’s basketball. We had a good turnout for that event, and in exchange for playing, alums were treated to tickets for Sunday’s Indoor Concert.
December brought two Holidazzle performances (the 10th and 11th). This year’s weather (mid-30s) was much more reasonable that last year’s (in the minus-20s). The band sounded much better without the frozen instruments, though we also became a “singing band” to make up for a shortage of percussion on the 10th.
Winter break arrived for the students, which translated into five more alumni pep band events in a span of 10 days. The band played at Gophers women’s basketball on December 22, men’s basketball on December 23 and 31, and men’s hockey at the Dodge Holiday Classic on December 29 and 30. A severe shortage of 1st trumpets and trombones on the 22nd limited our repertoire to only the Rouser and forced us to put out a call for help for the remaining games. Thankfully, the resulting response was enough to get us through the rest of the games with the full range of school songs plus a few features.
This year we have submitted invoices for performance fees to the U of M Athletics Department for the pep band events, and we need to make sure we represent our organization well. For future playing events, we will continue to monitor pre-event signups and instrumentation, but a decision has been made not to play at events with fewer than 15 band members signed up. Additionally, we will always require at least one 1st trumpet and one trombone.
Thanks go to Gary Williams for arranging the fall football Tailgate Band, to Ron Rasmussen for organizing the pep band event signup lists, and to everyone who came and performed at any and all the different events. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Classified Ad:
$$ WANTED $$
will buy
1971 and 1972
U of M
HOMECOMING
BUTTONS
(651) 457-8820
A Message from the 2005 Drum Major!
By Dick Osterberg
This was a season of change, as Professor Tim Diem became the new Director of the University of Minnesota Marching Band. With the help of new Assistant Director Professor Mary Schneider, he led the largest band in University of Minnesota history through a fun and successful year.
As Drum Major, this was my most challenging year in marching band; however, there was no better way to cap five years of marching than by standing in front of the best band in the country. Returning to Nashville, Tennessee for the Music City Bowl was a great end to the season for all. Marching in an outdoor stadium displayed our band’s powerful sound and was a wonderful preview of the future venue of Gopher Football.
I would personally like to thank you for your support of the University of Minnesota Marching Band. The memories and relationships created in marching band last a lifetime. I am immensely honored to have been a part of the Pride of Minnesota and all of its tradition.
2005–2006 Jalma Scholarship Winners
Each year we accept applications for Jalma scholarships – given to students who demonstrate commitment to the band program at the University and leadership. This year we had 25 applicants, and interviewed six outstanding students. These students are doing some pretty amazing things, and are very committed to music and the University. Congratulations to this year’s winners:
Maureen Hotlzman is a trumpet, piano and horn player, who is majoring in Music Education. Maureen plays in the marching and concert bands; is the marching band manager, and student director for athletic and concert bands.
Mary Stepnick is a trombone player and majoring in Kinesiology. Mary participates in marching and concert bands, is a rank lieutenant and coaches high school fencing and youth sports.