University of California Marching Band

The University of California Marching Band "The Pacesetter of College Marching Bands, the Pride of California"
The Cal Band during the 2004 marching season.
School	University of California
Location	Berkeley, California
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Founded	1891
Director	Robert Calonico
Members	240 (2010)
Fight song	"Fight for California", "Big C"
Uniform	Dark Blue Military Jacket and Trousers with Gold Accents; Military Cap with White Plume; White Crossed Vest with Silver Breastplate; Gold Cape; Black Shoes with White Spats
Website	http://calband.berkeley.edu

The University of California Marching Band, usually shortened to Cal Band, is the marching band for the University of California, Berkeley. While the Cal Band is student-run, it is administered under the auspices of the university and represents Cal at sporting events and social gatherings. The name of the band is "The University of California Band" by the constitution, but is typically called "The University of California Marching Band" or "The Cal Band". When the band marches out of Memorial Stadium's North Tunnel for football pre-games, it is referred to as "The Pacesetter of College Marching Bands, the Pride of California".

Unlike most other collegiate marching bands, the Cal Band is not under the University's Department of Music but rather the Department of Student Musical Activities, with other student-led organizations such as the University of California Jazz Ensembles and University of California Choral Ensembles. The Band is entirely student-run, save for one University-paid employee, its Director. Five students, each heading a specific point of leadership within the band, are elected by their peers and serve for terms of one calendar year. The five student leaders and the Director form the Executive Committee. The Senior Manager is elected by the previous Executive Committee. All the other student Executive Committee positions are elected by a majority vote of the Band membership.

Presently, the Band has 240 members in the Fall of 2012 (no color guard or auxiliary) and is under the direction of Robert Calonico, himself an alumnus of the University and the Band, serving as its Student Director in 1976.

History

The Cal Band has its roots in the University Cadet Band established in 1891. In 1923, the Band was sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) and its student leadership structure was formalized two years later. In the early years (prior to 1971), various faculty from the Music department were appointed director of the band through an arrangement with the ASUC.

After the 1950 Rose Bowl against Ohio State University, the Cal Band decided to adopt its present high-stepping style after they discovered their performance looked lackluster in comparison to Ohio State's marching band. The Straw Hat Band, a subset of the Cal Band, was also established that same year. After Professor Cushing (director from 1934 to 1950) resigned, the Music Department was asked to provide the ASUC with a new Director for the Band. Coincidentally, James Berdahl (Student Director in 1938) was returning to Berkeley to work on his doctoral studies in music. The Music Department Chairman, Albert Elkus, convinced Berdahl to serve as acting Director of the Cal Band until the department could find a permanent replacement for Professor Cushing. Berdahl became permanent Director of the Cal Band at the end of the 1951 season, and remained in that position until 1971. During Berdahl's tenure, the band began using the traditional chair step marching style. It is one of only three bands in the Pac-12 (the others being the Spirit of Troy and the University of Washington Husky Marching Band), and one of the few outside the Big Ten Conference, to use this physically demanding style.

In the fall of 1968, Dr. David W. Tucker (Ph.D, Cal, 1969) was hired as arranger and composer. He was appointed Associate Director in 1969. His responsibilities with the Cal Band included rehearsing, auditioning prospective new members, and directing on the football field opposite director James Berdahl. For the 1971 season, during Berdahl’s sabbatical year in Japan, Tucker was named Acting Director. At the end of the 1971 season, Tucker left the Cal Band to accept the newly created position of Director of the University of California Jazz Ensembles, after having been the volunteer director since 1969.

During the 1971 season, substantial podium time was taken by Assistant Director Robert O. Briggs. He was appointed acting director in 1972, and was made director in 1973.

In the 1970s, the Band's leadership structure was reorganized, a new band constitution written, and sponsorship moved from ASUC to the University. In the Spring Quarter of 1973, the all-male band voted to admit women, in the face of Title IX sanctions against the University, which was now the Band's primary funding source. There were fewer than 10 dissenting votes, against more than 100 votes in favor of admitting women. In the Fall 1973 marching season, 23 woman marched, together with 120 men. Although they rehearsed, marched and performed with the Band beginning in 1973, women were not entirely accepted by the Band's "inner fellowship" until through attrition the dissenting all-male band veterans had rotated out of the Band. More recently, the Band's membership has consisted of an even split of men and women, thus successfully broadening and improving the performance repertory possible for the Band's live performances.

In 1993, the Cal Band History Committee published a comprehensive history of the Cal Band. While this volume is now out of print, the text of the History Book can be found online at Cal Band History Book

Director Emeritus Robert O. Briggs died in 2008, leaving a legacy of musicianship spanning two generations of musicians.

Performances

The Cal Band has been seen and heard at a variety of performance venues. In the recent past, the Cal Band has appeared at the San Francisco Symphony's "Black and White Ball," performed for such names as George Shultz (former U.S. Secretary of State), Peter Haas and family (UC Berkeley benefactors and the owners of Levi Strauss & Co.), and George Lucas. In addition, the Cal Band has been seen on "The Ed Sullivan Show," the nationally syndicated game show "Wheel of Fortune," Santa Rosa TV 50's morning program, KTVU Channel 2's "Mornings on Two," KRON Channel 4's newscasts, "Bay Area Backroads," and sportscaster Vernon Glen's "Mr. Involvement." The Cal Band sound has been heard on dozens of Bay Area radio stations, such as WiLD 94.9 and KMEL 106.1, Live 105, and K101, and rounds out its exposure on the pages of numerous Bay Area newspapers. In 2010, 2012, and 2014, the band also led the San Francisco Giants victory parade in downtown San Francisco.^[1]

In 2016, the band played alongside Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars in the Super Bowl 50 Haltime Show.

Wintertime activities include playing at various on campus sporting events and trips to play at various ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe region.^[2]

Before 2002, in the spring, the Band performed a traditional "Spring Show" in UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium, combining the marching and playing talents of the band with other, hidden talents usually reserved for off the football field. Spring Show was discontinued in 2002 after financial burdens to the band resulting from funding cuts to the University of California system. In 2009, the Spring Show was brought back, to be discontinued again after the spring of 2011.

In a different sort of performance, the Cal Band was asked to help with the Nobel Lecture by George Smoot in 2006 by recreating "The Big Bang." ^[3]^[4]

Football Performances

The Cal Band performs during a pre-game show

During weeks of home football games the Cal Band gives several performances. On Fridays before a game, the Cal Band plays at the noon rallies on Sproul Plaza. On game days the Cal Band gives a concert on Sproul Plaza an hour and a half before kickoff. Following this performance, the Band marches in formation to California Memorial Stadium, leading a procession of Cal alumni and fans. During home football games the band gives a pre-game show, a half time show,^[5] and typically a musical performance after the game as the crowd leaves. During the game, the band is seated to the left of the primary student section, and plays stand songs, as well as fight songs throughout the game. A "break off" band performed in the front of each major section during the third quarter prior to the 2012 renovation of California Memorial Stadium.

In the Bleacher Report's power ranking of the top 25 college marching band pregames shows and traditions, the Cal Band was named 9th (of 25) as having a show that "beckons [the] former glory days, full of school songs and traditional formations" and is "a stand-alone classic".^[6]

Instrumentation

The Cal Band uses a fairly standard military band instrumentation with glockenspiels, piccolos, clarinets, alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, trumpets, mellophones, trombones, baritones, sousaphones, snare drums, tenor drums, bass drums, and cymbals.

California Alumni Band

The California Alumni Band, usually shorted to Cal Alumni Band, is a marching band consisting of former Cal Band members. The Cal Alumni Band is run by the non-profit Cal Band Alumni Association and is a subset of the Cal Alumni Association, an organization that handles alumni affairs of the University of California, Berkeley.

The Cal Alumni Band performs at various events such as: San Francisco AIDS Walk, Alumni Band Day, the Fourth of July Parade in Sausalito, California, Cal Basketball Games, and many other performances in the San Francisco Bay Area and across California.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of California Marching Band.

University of California, Berkeley

Academics

Athletics

Campus

Academic buildings	Bancroft Library California Hall Campbell Hall Doe Memorial Library Dwinelle Hall Etcheverry Hall Evans Hall Gilman Hall Hearst Memorial Mining Building Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation LeConte Hall Leuschner Observatory Moffitt Library South Hall Wheeler Hall

Landmarks	Botanical Garden and Julia Morgan Hall Sather Gate Sather Tower Sproul Plaza

Student activities	Hearst Greek Theatre Memorial Stadium Edwards Stadium Senior Hall Zellerbach Hall Haas Pavilion Tightwad Hill Evans Diamond

Residential	Bowles Hall International House Stern Hall Student housing University House

Research

Organizations

Category
Commons

California Golden Bears football

Venues	California Field (1904–1922) California Memorial Stadium (1923–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Stanford: Big Game (Stanford Axe) UCLA

Culture & lore	Oski "Fight for California" Marching band Tightwad Hill The Play

People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees

Seasons	1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Marching bands of the Pac-12 Conference

Pride of Arizona (Arizona)
Sun Devil Marching Band (Arizona State)
University of California Marching Band (California)
Golden Buffalo Marching Band (Colorado)
Oregon Marching Band (Oregon)
Oregon State University Marching Band (Oregon State)
Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (Stanford)
UCLA Bruin Marching Band (UCLA)
Spirit of Troy (USC)
Pride of Utah (Utah)
University of Washington Husky Marching Band (Washington)
Washington State University Cougar Marching Band (Washington State)

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