(Photo credit: Greg Campbell Photography)
Back in action after more than 50 years, the University of Alberta Marching Band has wrapped up for the spring season by winning first place at the Stony Plain Farmers’ Day Parade on June 4, 2016. Tom Dust, Professor of Secondary Music Education at the Faculty of Education and the driving force behind the new band, says that the prize “is a wonderful tribute to the talent and effort of all the band members, and we are all delighted to know that we represented the U of A so well and with so much pride.”
The team that came together this spring was a testament to the band’s model: “Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, Inspire the Future.” Band members ranged from U of A alumni and current university students to elementary, junior high and high school students, with the latter introducing themselves as “Future U of A students!” The youngest band member was seven year old James Dust, whose Toys’R’Us drum made him the band’s only tenor drummer.
Tom originally conceived of the idea of resurrecting the marching band 12 years ago. However, priorities shifted over time, and this spring, more than a decade later, Tom decided to give it another go. Education student Tricia Campbell, one of the band’s flag bearers, says that enthusiasm for the band was contagious. The first day of rehearsals started out with eight people. Then, as Tricia points out, in every practice session someone said, “oh, I know someone who’d like to join,” and band membership continued to rise, finally capping at 35. Tom believes that the band came together so quickly due to the incredible sense of community that developed among band members: “There was a decided feeling that we were all working at something that was innovative, daring, bold, worthwhile, and fun!”
Tom also credits the Alberta community with contributing to the band’s award winning final performance in Stony Plain this past Saturday. The roadside cheers of “Way to go, U of A!” and “Thanks, U of A!” at the band’s first two public performances at Thorsby on May 21 and St. Albert on May 28 “told us that we were doing something that was appreciated by the community.”
When asked if the band would march beyond the spring session, Tom points out that for the future, the U of A would have to hire a full-time band director, outfit people with uniforms and instruments and start a month in advance for practice sessions. Tom hopes that the band could then become a permanent feature of the U of A: “I think this university should have a 300 piece marching band. A university this size in the United States would have a 300 piece marching band. So there’s no reason why we can’t have that here.”