Band director’s open call draws 32 non-members
USC’s marching band had its first practice, which was open to all students who had any previous marching band experience, under its new director Saturday before the Spring Game.
The event, which is a tradition for the band, doubled as a recruiting effort. Not only were non-band members allowed to practice with the band, they were allowed to perform at the Spring Game. In addition to the 154 current band members, 32 new students took advantage of the opportunity. These students were a combination of incoming freshmen and USC students who have marching band experience. Students also showed interest in the band during Saturday’s “USC Admissions Day” at Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center.
“They’re coming in and giving basic information, like intended major, so we can do a little better job of welcoming them into our family,” said Alek Bevensee, a first-year business student and baritone player.
Katie Cok, an incoming freshman who plans on marching in the fall, got an invitation to play on Saturday through email. She said she was excited about playing in the stands and meeting new people, and that the band was very welcoming.
Throughout the practice, which ran less than half an hour, Rebecca Phillips, the new director of athletic bands, smiled as she conducted the energetic musicians. The band practiced the national anthem and a few adaptations Phillips made to traditional music played during football games.
Some of the changes Phillips is implementing includes specific cheers for specific downs.
“This serves two purposes in the future,” Phillips said. “The band knows what to have ready during the game and the cheers have fan participation opportunities.”
She also plans on moving the spell-out of “Carolina” in the fight song to a place where the fans can anticipate it coming and participate. The spell-out is traditionally in the beginning, but Philips said fans have told her that they don’t know it’s happening until too late.
Phililps said another change will be a special tag of the fight song after a touchdown that brings the team to the extra point with more celebration and drama, and after the extra point there will be an additional spell-out.
Ben Spagnuolo, a first-year music education student and drum major, said the band has a very positive new energy.
“It’s been revitalized,” Spagnuolo said. “We got the attention we needed to address the problems that were here.”
After the game, Phillips said she felt like the band performed well, especially since many students hadn’t touched their instruments since the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.
“There were times that we displayed some power-potential in the stands, which is very encouraging for the upcoming fall season,” Phillips said.