The Pride of Arizona

CollegeMarchingBandInfoBox
logo=
bandname=The Pride of Arizona
school=University of Arizona
location=Tucson, AZ
conference=Pac 10
founded=1902
director=Jay C. Rees
members=250+
uniform=red jackets with silver sequins, blue pants, blue shakos with white plumes

The Pride of Arizona (POA) is the University of Arizona's Marching Band. The band was founded in 1902 as the UA ROTC Band and contained 12 members. Over the years, the band has performed in prestigious venues such as Super Bowl I and the Inaugural Parade of President James Carter. Today the POA has over 250 members and is directed by Jay C. Rees.

History

* 1885: The University of Arizona is established.
* 1902-1912: The UA ROTC Band is established under the direction of student Frank C. Kelton. Wearing military uniforms, the band makes its first appearance at Battalion Parade on Dec. 9. The band varies from 3 to 20 men, comprised mainly of trumpeters and percussionists.
* 1907: The UA Band is created as part of the Music Department.
* 1920: The band is offered for one unit credit, and subsequently grows to the “impressive” size of 40 men. The ROTC band is dissolved, with the UA Band taking over its functions.
* 1922: The band makes its first appearance at a football game, and gets 50 instruments from the Military.
* 1928: Joseph DeLuca is hired as the director of bands. He was known as “the world’s greatest euphonium soloist,” and was a member of the Sousa band. The UA Band is the first band from Arizona to perform on the radio.
* 1936: The UA Band adopts the motto “The Best Band in the West” at the Western States and Philippine Islands Music Conference in Pasadena, CA.
* 1945: While rebuilding after World War II, women are allowed to march in the UA Band for the first time.
* 1952: Jack Lee becomes director of bands. Lee wrote the fight song, “Bear Down, Arizona.”
* 1954: The U of A hosts its first annual Band Day. The UA Band is the first band in the nation to incorporate moving formations and marching charts, and is considered to be one of the top five bands in the country.
* 1967: On January 15, the UA Band performs the halftime for Super Bowl I at the Los Angeles Coliseum. With 62,000 spectators in attendance, and another 90 million watching on television, this is the single largest crowd the UA Band has ever played for.
* 1977: The UA Band marches in the Inaugural Parade of President James Carter in Washington, D.C.
* 1984: “Bear Down” is played to wake up the astronauts on the April Space Shuttle mission.
* 1995: Jay C. Rees becomes the assistant director of bands at UA and the director of the Pride of Arizona. They adopt the slogan “The World’s First Alternative Music Marching Band.”
* 1997: The POA marching band and the basketball pep band releases their first studio CD recording entitled "The Pride of Arizona - The University of Arizona Marching and Pep Bands."
* 2001: The POA pep band releases their second studio CD recording entitled "Wildcats Legacy Lane - The University of Arizona Pep Band."
* 2002: The UA Band celebrates its 100th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of "Bear Down". "A Century of Pride" is the university's homecoming theme, and the year is marked with performances throughout the band program.
* 2004: The "Grande Dame" of the Pride of Arizona, twirling coach Shirlee Bertolini, celebrates her 50th year with the Pride of Arizona.
* 2006: On October 28, the Pride performs (in exhibition) for the Bands of America competition in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Also, a recording of parts 1 and 2 of the Radiohead performance from the Wildcats' home game against University of Washington makes its way onto the popular video sharing site, YouTube.com. It later received an award for being the 74th most viewed video in the category of music for the year of 2006.
* 2008: The Pride of Arizona releases its third album, entitled "Monkey Feet". The album was recorded throughout the course of the 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons and includes various clips from each show and some stands tunes. The album was made possible by a generous grant from the Louise Marshall Foundation of Tucson, AZ, and is dedicated to the memory of former band member Eric Bradley, a horn player who passed away after the 2006 season from brain cancer. All proceeds from the album go in memory of Eric to the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

Instrumentation and Auxiliaries

The instrumentation of the Pride of Arizona is as follows, in score order:
*Piccolo
*Clarinet
*Alto Saxophone 1
*Alto Saxophone 2
*Tenor Saxophone
*Baritone Saxophone
*Trumpet 1
*Trumpet 2
*Trumpet 3
*Horn in F
*Trombone 1
*Trombone 2
*Baritone Horn
*Tuba

The percussion section of the Pride of Arizona is battery only, and consists of snares, tenor drums, bass drums, and cymbals. The director of percussion is David Rodenkirch. The other percussion instructors include Saul Aguilar, Vicente Lopez, Mike Talerico, and Debbie Lewis.

There are three auxiliary units that perform with the Pride of Arizona. The Pom Line (dance, pon-poms), Twirlers (batons), and Colorguard (flags and other apparatus) are coached by Alison Zeper, Shirlee Bertolini, and Nicole Parada, respectively.

Recent Field Shows (and "second" shows)

* "'Under Steve Steele:
* 1985: You are the Sunshine of My Life, Ludwig from Beethoven 9, Cats Medley
* 1986: I Got Rhythm, Everybody Loves the Blues, En Sueno, Being Alive (Hoedown, Theme from the Cowboys) Under Joe Hermann:
* 1987: Matchpoint, One More Time Chuck Corea, Old Man River
* 1988: Thank You Band...Under Eric Becher:
* 1989: Bill Chase Medley
* 1990: Selections from "Carmen"Under Gregg Hanson/John Yoon (Head Graduate Teaching Assistant):
* 1991: Sunshine ShowUnder Enrique "Hank" C. Feldman:
* 1992: Latin Salsa/Rock 'n Roll
* 1993: West Side Story
* 1994: Channel One Suite (Santana)Under Jay C. Rees:
* 1995: The Beatles (Rock 'n Roll History)
* 1996: The Red Hot Chili Peppers (No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom)
* 1997: Pink Floyd (Carmina Burana)
* 1998: The Smashing Pumpkins (Stevie Wonder)
* 1999: The Who's Tommy
* 2000: Danny Elfman/Oingo Boingo (Santana - Supernatural)
* 2001: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Dave Matthews Band)
* 2002: The Return of The Red Hot Chili Peppers (World Peace Medley)
* 2003: Teardrop (An original work for band by Jay C. Rees) (No Doubt - Rock Steady)
* 2004: Talking Heads
* 2005: Led Zeppelin
* 2006: Radiohead
* 2007: Tears for Fears
* 2008: Weather Report

Directors of the Pride of Arizona

(Note: This list is not representative of each director's career with the University of Arizona, just their career as director of the marching band. Also, the title "Pride of Arizona" was first used during the James Keene era. The band was known as the "Best Band in the West" prior to that time.)

As the "ROTC University Band"
*1902-1904: William K. Seitz
*1906-1908: C. G. Hoover
*1913: A. E. Clark
*1916-1917: Clark Leaming
*1918-1920: 2nd Lt. Alfred E. Truscott
*1920-1922: J. H. McGibney

As the "ROTC University Band and Concert Band"
*1922-1923: Guy Tufford
*1923-1925: Ernest G. Dobney
*1925-1928: Guy Tufford

As one of the "University of Arizona Bands"
*1928-1935: Joseph O. DeLuca
*1935-1939: Maurice F. Anderson
*1939-1946: George C. Wilson
*1946-1952: Sam Fain
*1952-1980: Jack Lee
*1980-1985: James Keene
*1985-1987: Stephen K. Steele
*1987-1989: Joseph Hermann
*1989-1991: Eric Becher
*1991-1992: Gregg I. Hanson
*1992-1995: Enrique "Hank" C. Feldman
*1995-present: Jay C. Rees

Recent Drum Majors of The Pride of Arizona

* 1981: Elizabeth (Betsy) Tucker, Jace McQuivey, Joe Malik III
* 1982: Elizabeth (Betsy) Tucker, Joe Malik III
* 1983:
* 1984: Annie Yin, Wes Boyer
* 1985: Annie Yin, Rick MacEnaney
* 1986: Lori David, Jose Herring Colon, Frank Pones, Wes Boyer
* 1987: Lori David, Mike Willen, Dwayne St. Jacques
* 1988: Mike Willen, Frank Pones
* 1989: Mike Willen, Frank Pones, Brian Larson
* 1990: Brian Larson, James Perez, Melisha Masters
* 1991: Brian Larson, Jenkin Clark, Deena Ingram
* 1992: Kristin Elliott, Mark Hodge, Tia Wohlferd
* 1993: Karen Hogle, Chad Shoopman, Tia Wohlferd
* 1994: Karen Hogle, Chad Shoopman, Kerri Tyers
* 1995: Carrie Melkin (née Rituper)
* 1996: Carrie Melkin (née Rituper); Assistant Drum Major: Ben Devlin
* 1997: Carrie Melkin (née Rituper); Assistant Drum Major: Alli Coyle (née Howard)
* 1998: Alli Coyle (née Howard); Assistant Drum Major: Chris Pierson
* 1999: Joanne Hogle; Assistant Drum Major: Micheline Rathburn
* 2000: Melissa Stuebner
* 2001: Mike May
* 2002: Scott Matlick
* 2003: Scott Matlick; Assistant Drum Major: Chris Newman
* 2004: Scott Matlick
* 2005: Brandon Burr; Assistant Drum Major: Rob Barrett
* 2006: Emily Jennings
* 2007: Bill Patterson
* 2008: Valerie Rogers

Individual Honors

At the conclusion of every season, awards are given out to honor individuals within the group.

The Cathy Harris Award: Awarded to the member(s) of the group consistently displaying both sincere dedication to the principles and causes of the ensemble and an equally distinguished sense of humor.
*2005: Bryan Hill
*2006: Karly Mitchell, Steve "Gunner" Aleck / Tad Thunderson
*2007: Chris Reigert-Waters

Rookie of the Year: Awarded to the most outstanding member of the group having just completed their first season.
*1995: Mike Oliver
*1996: Kim Baron
*1997: Patrick Didier
*1998: Robyn Raupe
*1999: Vicente Lopez
*2000: Karin Nolan
*2001: Scott Matlick
*2002: Matt Stout
*2003: Stacey Garcia
*2004: Kiel Spencer
*2005: Erin Besold
*2006: Ryan Kain
*2007: Kristin Schlarb

MVP: Awarded to the "most valuable player(s)" of the Pride of Arizona.
*1995: Ben Devlin, Phil Giurlanda
*1996: Chris Pierson
*1997: Carrie Rituper
*1998: Micheline Rathburn, Danny Rigby
*1999: Brian Ralston
*2000: Bill Charles
*2001: Arianna Gleason
*2002: Jonah Elrod
*2003: Scott Matlick
*2004: Rob Barrett
*2005: Jeremy Young, Kyle Kinnaman
*2006: Sam Gerber
*2007: Lindsay McDonald

Also given out are weekly honors, following the conclusion of home football games. These are honorable mentions, often given to three-four individuals (or, occasionally, groups of people or sections), and gameball, given to one or two individuals who have either represented a consistently notable work ethic or have had an exceptionally strong week.

External links

* [http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/uabands/athletic/marchingband.php "The official arizona.edu website for the Pride"]
* [http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=xelnia "YouTube playlists of Pride shows from 1995-present"] at YouTube