The Pride of Arizona

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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.

Current POA uniform, Designed by Michael Cesario

1 History
2 Instrumentation and Auxiliaries
3 Recent Field Shows (and "second" shows)
4 Directors of the Pride of Arizona
5 Individual Honors
6 External links

[edit] 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.
1929: The Omega chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi is founded on May 7.
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 ware allowed to march in the UA Band for the first time.
1950: The Omega chapter of Tau Beta Sigma is founded on May 14.
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 67,000 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.

[edit] 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, and coached by Bob Peterson.

There are three auxiliary units that perform with the Pride of Arizona. The poms, twirlers, and colorguard are coached by Becky Eisenberg, Shirlee Bertolini, and Nicole Parada, respectively.

[edit] Recent Field Shows (and "second" shows)

Under Gregg I. Hanson:

1991: Sunshine Show

Under 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), Drum Major: Carrie Melkin (née Rituper)
1996: The Red Hot Chili Peppers (No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom), Drum Major: Carrie Melkin (née Rituper); Assistant Drum Major: Ben Devlin
1997: Pink Floyd (Carmina Burana), Drum Major: Carrie Melkin (née Rituper); Assistant Drum Major: Alli Coyle (née Howard)
1998: The Smashing Pumpkins (Stevie Wonder), Drum Major: Alli Coyle (née Howard); Assistant Drum Major: Chris Pierson
1999: The Who's Tommy, Drum Major: Joanne Hogle
2000: Danny Elfman/Oingo Boingo (Santana - Supernatural), Drum Major: Melissa Stuebner
2001: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Dave Matthews Band), Drum Major: Mike May
2002: The Return of The Red Hot Chili Peppers (World Peace Medley), Drum Major: Scott Matlick
2003: Teardrop (An original work for band) (No Doubt - Rock Steady), Drum Major: Scott Matlick; Assistant Drum Major: Chris Newman
2004: Talking Heads, Drum Major: Scott Matlick
2005: Led Zeppelin, Drum Major: Brandon Burr; Assistant Drum Major: Rob Barrett
2006: Radiohead, Drum Major: Emily Jennings
Future 2007 show: Tears for Fears, Drum Major: Bill Patterson

[edit] 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 Pride of Arizona. Each director's career began in the fall and ended in the spring of the years listed.)

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 the part 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
1985-1986: Stephen K. Steele
1986-1989: Joseph Hermann
1989-1991: Eric Becher
1991-1992: Gregg I. Hanson
1992-1995: Enrique C. Feldman
1995-present: Jay C. Rees

[edit] Individual Honors

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

The Cathy Harris Award: Awarded for 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

Rookie of the Year: Awarded for 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

MVP: Awarded for 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

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.

[edit] External links

The University of Arizona
Athletics & traditions	Wildcats • Bear Down • The Pride of Arizona • U of A/ASU Big Game • Arizona Stadium • McKale Center • Lute Olson • Wilbur the Wildcat