Cavalier Marching Band
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The Cavalier Marching Band is a marching band at the University of Virginia. The band's director, William Pease, is the first full-time marching band director in the history of the University of Virginia. A newcomer among the ranks of collegiate marching bands, the Cavalier Marching Band 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.
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 I without a marching band. With some elements of the university's administration, alumni, and students desiring the removal of the Virginia Pep Band for many years, followed by the banning of that band from all future Continental Tire Bowls, the Athletics Department received emails and phone calls, some of which called for the end of the pep band and the establishment of a university marching band. The Director of the Pep Band Adam Lorentson said at the time that cost is the key reason the University does not have a traditional marching band [1] and was proven right when Carl Smith's multi-million dollar donation made the new U.Va. marching band a reality.
One of William Pease's first moves as band director was to invite members of the Pep Band to join the Cavalier Marching Band. Three Pep Band members "crossed the line", but others declined. In further recruitment efforts, Pease went on to offer positions in the band to musicians at Piedmont Virginia Community College. The Cavalier Marching Band had 170 pieces at the beginning of its first year. Over 90% of members were UVa students; nearly 100% were from the greater Charlottesville community. As of the 2006-2007 school year, a great majority of members are first-year, second-year, and third-year students with only 8 of its members in their final year of undergraduate study ( [2],"...enrollment in course number is based upon year in band..." [3]). The band did not yet exist when the fourth-years entered the university, but did when the other classes entered.
Although the Cavalier Band is still relatively new, some songs that they play are nearly 100 years old. Pease was given university songbooks from 1907 upon his arrival, and at the 2004 debut featured such songs as "The Orange and the Blue" and "The Virginia Yell Song" that had not been heard at Virginia athletics events in almost a century.
[edit] Previous Band Organizations at U.Va.
The earliest appearance of a music group performing for sports events was when a marching band appeared in 1941 at a home football game. The marching band performed until 1964 when its membership waned and its performances at football ceased.
Though no band performed at athletic events during the period of 1964 to 1974, the Virginia Pep Band claims that the marching band band remained a club until the Pep Band, newly organized with a different type of musical performance (a scramble band) was formed in the mid-1970s. The scramble band was the official band of U.Va. athletics for the period between 1974 and 2003, with the exception of about one month during 1993.
The first faculty-governed band at UVa athletic events, known as the UVa Sports Band, was started by UVa's athletic department in 1993 as an alternative to the Pep Band. Much smaller than the Pep Band itself, the 24-piece band played for only a few home football games before disbanding.
[edit] Growth of the Cavalier Band
The Cavalier Marching Band begain with 170 pieces [4]. Now in its third year, it has grown further, with 176 members who are students of the university and more participants from the surrounding community. The band performs new halftime shows at every home football game, and travels to three or four road games per season. The band was featured in the halftime show at the 2005 Music City Bowl, in Nashville, Tennessee and was declared champion of the event's "Battle of the Bands," defeating the historic Minnesota Golden Gopher Band.
