Contact: Mary Pollitz
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擶ith the start of football season fast approaching, Mississippi State鈥檚 Famous Maroon Band prepares for a new tradition.
Last football season, as the band performed an inaugural halftime sing-along, Director of Bands Elva Kaye Lance and Associate Directors Craig Aarhus and Cliff Taylor watched as Bulldog students and fans joined in to sing and cheer. A new tradition was born. Building on that success, the band will carry this new custom into this season with the crowd favorites 鈥淪weet Caroline鈥 and 鈥淟ivin鈥 on a Prayer.鈥
鈥淲e liked it last year,鈥 Lance said. 鈥淲e face the east, west and student section. A tradition takes a little while, and it鈥檚 hard to birth a new tradition but we鈥檙e trying to do that. Our students loved it and it鈥檚 important that we have student buy-in if we want to have success.鈥
With more than 400 members representing nearly 200 high schools from 15 states, the university鈥檚 band showcases the inclusiveness of MSU. Students represent every college on campus, with nearly 40 percent declaring engineering as a major. The Famous Maroon Band boasts 35 legacy members who have siblings, parents or grandparents who were previous band members.
鈥淭hey represent a very diverse group of majors,鈥 Lance said. 鈥淲e like to think of ourselves as the face of the university. We are a cross section of all the majors. These students are very interesting鈥攖heir backgrounds and their career aspirations. For many of our students who are not music majors, it鈥檚 a good avocation for them and we hope they continue their musical interest.鈥
During the first football game Aug. 31, fans will hear the Bulldog classics like the fight song and a Latin Jazz vibe with 鈥淢alaguena鈥 by Ernesto Lecuona, 鈥淪panish Fantasy鈥 by Chick Corea and 鈥淪mooth鈥 by Itaal Shur and Rob Thomas. The season鈥檚 music will feature a variety of tunes including music from 鈥淗ow to Train your Dragon鈥 and 鈥淭he Legend of Zelda鈥 later in the year. Taylor, who prepares the sheet music for the band, loves hearing the students bring those notes to life. 听
鈥淚 spend a lot of my summer putting dots on a page, and it鈥檚 neat to see what it becomes鈥攁 living organism,鈥 he said.
The band鈥檚 excellence extends beyond music, with last year鈥檚 members maintaining an overall GPA of 3.34, including nearly 25% achieving a perfect 4.0. Lance expressed pride in the students鈥 ability to balance their academic and extracurricular commitments.
鈥淲e have so many students from so many disciplines. We are proud of the fact they鈥檝e done well academically and managed their time well,鈥 Lance said.
As it prepares for another season, the Bulldog pride is evident in the Famous Maroon Band, a university institution dating back almost 120 years.
For more information about the Famous Maroon Band, visit or .
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