Penn State Blue Band

Penn State Blue Band
Penn State Blue Band
School	The Pennsylvania State University
Location	University Park, Pennsylvania
Conference	Big Ten
Founded	1899
Director	Gregory Drane
Assistant Directors	Robert Hickey, Michquelena Ferguson
Members	320+
Fight song	"Fight On, State" and "The Nittany Lion"
Uniform
Website	http://www.blueband.psu.edu/

The Pennsylvania State University Marching Blue Band, known generally as the Penn State Blue Band or simply the Blue Band, is the marching band of Pennsylvania State University. Founded in 1899, it is the largest recognized student organization at the University Park campus of Penn State, with over 300 active student members. The primary function of the Blue Band is to support the school's football team, performing for all home football games at Beaver Stadium.

Background

The Blue Band during a halftime performance in Beaver Stadium.

The Blue Band is open to all students at the Penn State University Park Campus by competitive audition. The Blue Band accepts 290-315 student members annually; returnees must re-audition. All students who participate in the Blue Band are enrolled in a one-credit class and must remain in good standing with the university in order to maintain their eligibility with the band.^[1]

The Blue Band consists of instrumentalists, Blue Band Silks (color guard), Touch of Blue (majorettes), a drum major, a Blue Sapphire (featured baton twirler), uniform managers, and student operations assistants.

The Blue Band performs many times throughout the school year. In addition to home football games, the entire band travels to one or two away games per season, and there is also a small pep band that travels to other away games.

The band also takes part in other performances, including the "Be a Part from the Start" event at the beginning of the academic year to help welcome the incoming class of students. Outside of the Blue Band's obligations as a pep band, the band performs in a concert known as "Bandorama", consisting of a reprisal of the year's halftime music and fight songs.

Separate from the Blue Band is the Pride of the Lions Pep Band, an ensemble which performs at men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and other various sporting events on campus. Audition is not required for this ensemble.

History

The Blue Band traces its history to 1899 with the formation of a six-member drum and bugle corps initiated by student George H. Deike. A donation from steel magnate and Penn State College Board of Trustees member Andrew Carnegie made possible the formation of a brass band in the summer of 1901.^[2] By 1913, the organization was known as the College Band, and the first permanent director of bands, Wilfred O. "Tommy" Thompson, was appointed in 1914.

In 1923, blue uniforms were purchased towards replacement of the old brown military-style uniforms in use at the time. Blue uniforms were issued on the basis of ability and rank.

The Blue Band made its film debut in the 1977 made-for-TV movie Something for Joey. Appearing again in the 1993 feature film Rudy, they played "The Nittany Lion" in the movie.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, the Penn State Blue Band was honored with the Sudler Trophy.^{[citation needed]}

Dr. Gregory Drane, current director of athletic bands at Penn State

During succeeding eras in which Hummel (Hum) Fishburn (1939–1947), James W. Dunlop (1947–1975), Ned C. Deihl (1975–1996), O. Richard Bundy (1996–2015) served as directors,^[3] the name Penn State Blue Band was kept even though all members were uniformed in blue. Since 2015, the director of the Blue Band has been Gregory Drane.

Performances

The Blue Band has appeared at 33 bowl games, including multiple appearances in the Orange, Cotton, Sugar, Fiesta, Gator, Rose, and Citrus Bowls. The band has also performed at the Outback, Blockbuster, Holiday, Pinstripe, Peach, and Rose Bowls, and for the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.^{[citation needed]}

The Blue Band marched in the Bicentennial Constitution Celebration Parade held in Philadelphia in 1987, and made its first appearance in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on January 2, 1995, having made several additional appearances since.^{[citation needed]}

Organization

Director

Since July 2015, the Band has been led by its sixth director, Gregory Drane. Drane has served as the Assistant Director of the Blue Band since 2005, directing Athletic Pep Bands as well as founding the Penn State Volleyball Band. He has been part of the Blue Band staff since 2002, when he was a graduate assistant.

Director emeritus

From 1996 to 2015, the Blue Band was under the direction of O. Richard Bundy. Bundy received his undergraduate degree in music education from Penn State. After receiving a master's degree from the University of Michigan, he returned to Penn State for his doctoral degree (serving as assistant director under Ned C. Deihl from 1983 to 1996). On October 11, 2015, the Blue Band's practice facility was dedicated in Bundy's honor and renamed to the O. Richard Bundy Blue Band Building.

Officers

The Blue Band is maintained in large part by student officers who are elected by the band at the end of the season for the next season.

Drum major

The Penn State Blue Band has one drum major who is chosen in the spring prior to each band camp. The drum major leads the band through warm-ups and fundamentals, as well as instructing the band during rehearsals.

References

^ "Course Description: MUSIC 081". Undergraduate Degree Programs Bulletin. The Pennsylvania State University. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on September 8, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2006.
^ "Penn State News". Penn State News. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
^ Range, Thomas (1999). The Penn State Blue Band: A Century of Pride and Precision. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01960-3.

External links

Official website

[music_081-1] "Course Description: MUSIC 081". Undergraduate Degree Programs Bulletin. The Pennsylvania State University. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on September 8, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2006.

[2] "Penn State News". Penn State News. Retrieved September 8, 2015.

[range-3] Range, Thomas (1999). The Penn State Blue Band: A Century of Pride and Precision. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01960-3.

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v t e Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota: Governor's Victory Bell Ohio State Old Ironsides Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game Child sex abuse scandal 2016 Ohio State game Paterno White Out 2021 Illinois game
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882–1886 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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Penn State Nittany Lions basketball
Venues	Armory (1896–1929) Rec Hall (1929–1996) Bryce Jordan Center (1996–present)
Culture & lore	Legion of Blue Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States