The University of Pennsylvania Band (commonly known as the Penn Band, or its vaudeville-esque performance moniker The Huge, the Enormous, the Well-Endowed, Undefeated, Ivy-League Champion, University of Pennsylvania Oxymoronic Fighting Quaker Marching Band) is among the most active collegiate band programs in the country.[1] The organization is a part of the Department of Athletics at the University of Pennsylvania. Like most of the other 50 performing arts groups on the Penn Campus, the Penn Band has no affiliation with any academic department and is sponsored by the Vice Provost’s Office for Undergraduate Life. The organization, typically ranging between 80 and 100 members every year, is among the largest and most active student-run organizations on campus, performing upwards of 60 times during the academic year. Like most of the Ivy League Bands, the Penn Band is a scramble band.
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History
Founded in 1897, the Penn Band stands among the oldest college bands in the country, and one of the nation's first traveling bands (1901)[2] . According to popular legend, the band began after a single trumpet player named Felix A. Dupont played to the jeers of residents in the student quadrangle (“Shut up, frosh!”).
Its history is marked with a sustained record of performance and achievement. In its first year of existence, the Band performed twice for President William McKinley, as well as at the opening of Houston Hall, the country’s first student union. In subsequent years, the organization became an integral part of Penn sporting events, including contests at historic Franklin Field and the Palestra, and campus traditions such as ‘Hey Day,’ ‘Rowbottoms,’, and Commencement ceremonies.
Appearances during the 20th century include countless NCAA tournament games (including The NCAA Final Four in 1979), the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (one of the first collegiate marching bands to ever march in the parade), the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and the Miss America Pageant Parade (on more than one occasion).
During its history, the organization has performed with notable musicians, including John Phillip Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman, members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the U.S. Marine Band (“The President's Own”), Doc Severinsen of the Johnny Carson Show, and the prominent composer Václav Nelhýbel. The band’s performances also include national broadcasts and numerous recordings, beginning in the late 1920’s and 1930s with the Victor Talking Machine Company (RCA-Victor Company) and nationally-broadcasted performances on WABC. In popular culture, Chuck Barris of Gong Show fame performed with the Band in 1977, and the Band opened for the Maury Povich Show in 1980.
The group has performed at the pleasure of many dignitaries and celebrities over its history in the context of celebrations on-campus and within the city of Philadelphia. This list of dignitaries includes Governor Ed Rendell, Vice President Al Gore, Grace Kelly, President Ronald Reagan, Bill Cosby, Lech Walesa, President Theodore Roosevelt, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Peter Lynch, Dolly Parton, Chris Matthews, and Rudy Giuliani.
The first one hundred years of the organization's history was recently featured in a book from Arcadia Publishing - Images of America:The University of Pennsylvania Band (2006).
The Penn Band Today
Today, the Penn Band is a bastion of music and mirth on the Penn Campus, performing at campus events and traditions, all Football games, and most Men’s and Women’s Basketball games. The group also tours along the East Coast; in the past decade, the group has toured Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, as well as San Diego, California. The group’s appearances include eight NCAA tournament games on national television in the past ten years, ESPN Game Day Live, MSNBC Hardball, and the Fox and Friends Morning Show. Earlier in 2007, the band had the opportunity to perform with rock legend and drummer Simon Kirke on the Penn campus. In December 2008, the Band appeared on a nationally televised sports special on CBS Sports, and in April 2008, the Band performed for Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton at an election rally on the Penn campus. Today, the Penn Band stands as one of the only, if not only, college bands in the country that attends all conference Men's Basketball games, both home and away.
Famous alumni
- Roland F. Seitz, famous Bandmaster and composer of "The University of Pennsylvania Band March"
- Adolph Vogel, former director of the Penn Band (1908-1941) and former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra
- Lucien Cailliet, former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra and arranger of the Penn fight songs for marching band
- James DePriest, Class of 1957
- Ted Weems, Class of 1944
- Elliot Lawrence, Class of 1944
- Bruce Montgomery, longtime Penn Glee Club Director and former Director of the Band (1957-1958)
- Greer Cheeseman and Peter Graber, Esq.- started toast tradition
Traditions
- Script Penn - At Homecoming, the Band and Band Alumni form a script PENN on the field during the halftime show
- Toast-throwing - At every Penn football game (including away games), during the singing of "Drink a Highball" after the third quarter, fans throw a piece of toast onto the field while the band plays the lyrics 'here's a toast to dear old Penn.'
- Hang Jeff Davis - The Band sings Hang Jeff Davis every time the football team scores
- Alumni Day and Commencement - The Band leads the parade of alumni and graduates during these springtime festivities.
Songs
- Hail, Pennsylvania! (The Alma Mater)
- The Red and Blue
- The Battle Cry of Penn ("Hang Jeff Davis")
- Cheer Pennsylvania!
- Drink a Highball
- Fight On Pennsylvania!
- Men of Pennsylvania
- The University of Pennsylvania Band March
- In 1901, the renowned bandmaster Roland F. Seitz (1867-1946) of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania wrote the famous University of Pennsylvania Band March. The march is generally regarded as one of the finest compositions ever written for a student band, and ultimately was adapted by many other organizations throughout the country.
- Franklin Field March
- Edwin Franko Goldman, who was generally regarded only second to John Phillip Sousa in the early 20th century, composed the Franklin Field March for the University of Pennsylvania Band. On November 5, 1932, Goldman’s Franklin Field March was performed for the first time at the annual University of Pittsburgh-University of Pennsylvania football game.
Discography (known)
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- The University of Pennsylvania Band (RCA Victor) (1926)
- The Songs of the University of Pennsylvania (1954)
- The Songs of the University of Pennsylvania (1958?)
- The University of Pennsylvania Symphonic Band (1963)
- Cheer Pennsylvania! (1983)
- Penn Band: World Tour (1986)
- Live at Smoke's (1989)
- A Toast to Dear Old Penn (1993)
- Five Score and Several Years to Go (1997)
- The Band That Rocks the Cradle (2001)
- The Band Before Time (2007)
External links
Other Scramble Bands
- Brown University Band
- Columbia University Marching Band
- Dartmouth College Marching Band
- Harvard University Band
- Michigan Technological University Huskies Pep Band
- Princeton University Band
- Rice University's Marching Owl Band
- Stanford University Marching Band
- Virginia Pep Band
- Yale Precision Marching Band
- The University of Chicago Band
- The Humboldt State University Marching Lumberjacks
- The UC Davis Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh!
- The Villanova University Band
- William and Mary Pep Band
- The Williams College Mucho Macho Marching Moo Cow Band
References
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