BAND CAMP

12 days to showtime

By Mike Enright ’88 (CLAS) | Photos by Peter Morenus

Director of Bands David Mills watches over the UConn Marching Band as it goes through one of what will be hundreds of pre-season field drills. Mills in his 27th year as director.

UConn Marching Band practice at W lot

Director of Bands David Mills watches over the UConn Marching Band as it goes through one of what will be hundreds of pre-season field drills. Mills in his 27th year as director.

BAND CAMP

12 days to showtime

By Mike Enright ’88 (CLAS) | Photos by Peter Morenus

Preseason: 8/19—8/30

The students of the UConn Marching Band, like their football-team counterparts, return to campus early each August for preseason training camp. With the summer heat, 12-hour-plus days, and instruments that weigh up to 35 pounds, it can be the most physically taxing activity any of them have gone through.

“We come in 10 days before classes start, with newcomers on Saturday and the rest on Monday,” says David Mills, who is in his 27th year as director of bands. “The band literally does everything together for the whole time. It’s a great 10 days, and it’s very intense."

Days begin with a 7:30 a.m. breakfast and go as late as 10:30 p.m. with social events. In between, there are meetings, practices with individual sections, movement training, choreography, and even special rehearsal time just for the alma mater “Old Connecticut.” There’s also a new-member induction ceremony, a performance at Mirror Lake, and a UCMB convocation.

The band needs to be in midseason form right from the first game, and that means everything from learning the music for both the pregame and halftime shows and endless practicing of the marching routines to making sure that each member’s uniform, which consists of 8 to 10 pieces, is properly fit.

Game Day: 8/31

The opening game can be a time of jitters and nerves for the newcomers, the veterans, and even Mills himself. They all arrive at Pratt & Whitney Stadium about two and a half hours before the game for one final rehearsal. The pregame Husky Walk is next, followed by a quick bite to eat. Then it’s showtime!

Band members have a wide variety of previous experience, and for some, it will be the first time they are part of an actual marching unit. It’s certainly the largest audience most have ever performed in front of.

The band brings together students from every college and school of the University; members have more than 80 different majors.

“Nothing else in the world is like it,” says Mills. “We have 300 people making individual motion decisions ... it should be chaos. Instead, it’s awesome to watch them work like they are one unit. Then you add music to it. There’s an emotional quality to it that is really overwhelming at times.”

Band Camp Web Extras

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