Hey everyone!
We are Catherine and Lauren, and we are your Spring ‘25 Pep Conductors! Both of us have conducted the Pep Band in the past, and we are more than honored to do it again this semester. We are seeing a lot of familiar and new faces at weekly rehearsals, which works well for our future as we have a large senior class graduating but a large class of dedicated first-year students as well!
While we are still early in the semester, we have been on two away Men’s Hockey trips so far to SLU/Clarkson and Brown/Yale. The games against Brown and Yale included a much-needed weekend sweep, boosting the men’s chances of making it to the ECAC playoffs. This has been an enormous morale booster going into our final Men’s Hockey games at home for the regular season as we continue the tradition of fancy hockey within the band and get ready to honor head coach Mike Schaefer in his last game from the home bench at Lynah.
Speaking of playoffs, our Women’s Hockey team has been doing OUTSTANDING! They are currently ranked 3rd in the nation, along with winning the Ivy and ECAC regular season titles. After a well-deserved bye week, the women host the quarterfinals at home the week of Feb 28. Speaking of winning Ivy titles, our wrestling team just took home their title at home with the band in attendance on Feb 9th. We have loved playing at these events this semester and can’t wait to go to more!
We have also been to a few basketball games for both the Men’s and Women’s teams, and we hope to follow our Men’s team to Ivy Madness in Providence as they are currently in the final qualifying spot. Looking ahead, we are excited to start attending lacrosse games as their seasons start up this semester! Our men’s team won the regular season Ivy title last year, and we hope to see them carry that momentum into this season.
Peace and many victories ahead!
Catherine “European national anthem connoisseur” Frank
Lauren “Convinced my entire family to go to Fancy Hockey” Noll
Hey Alumni!
My name is Josh Faber and I’m super excited to be your 2025 Drum Major! I’m a Junior trombone player from Livingston, New Jersey, studying Computer Science and Operations Research with a minor in Math in the College of Engineering. When I’m not at a football game or music rehearsal, I work on the Cornell University Autonomous Underwater Vehicle project team helping to build and code a submarine that can compete in unmanned challenges.
As 2023 and 2024 Bone Section Leader, it’s been a blast watching the band grow and seeing underclassmen find their home here in the BRMB. I can’t wait to meet a new class of freshmen and new members in the fall and help them become a part of our amazing community. Recruitment and retention are so important and ensuring that the band is a welcoming, exciting, and uplifting place to be is crucial. Head Manager Emily Mawhinney and I, along with the rest of Bandstaph and the rest of the band, are already hard at work to keep it that way and I’m confident that, come fall, we’ll have a great new group joining our ranks.
I’m equally excited to watch our current members continue to flourish. This year, our awesome Section Leaders have been hosting a number of sectionals, instruction sessions, and workshops to help members of the band learn instruments they might be interested in but unfamiliar with. The enthusiasm members have brought to both learning and teaching has truly embodied the spirit of the BRMB.
The Spring season is getting underway with the start of music rehearsals in preparation for Giving Day, Admitted Students Days, Dragon Day, Spring Concert, and more! I hope to work on a number of songs we haven’t played in a while and bring our Big Red energy back to them. The Show Committee and I are also very excited about our new repertoire. They came ready with some fantastic ideas for show themes and songs and I can’t wait to rehearse them and see them come to life.
Looking ahead, this upcoming football season promises to be a great one. There’s tons to look forward to, including trips to Yale, Harvard, and UPenn. I’ve never been more excited to get back out onto Schoellkopf! I can’t wait to see you all and meet even more of you at Reunion this summer and Homecoming in early October!
Go Big Red!
Josh Faber ‘26
Hey Alumni!
Hi, my name is Abbott, but most people call me Pidge. I’m currently a sophomore majoring in Chemistry and minoring in ASL & Deaf Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences! I play the trumpet, horn, and saxophone. Last year, I was on Bandstaph as a member of the 2024 Show Committee!
Hello, I’m Max, which is what most people call me. I’m a freshman majoring in history and government, the liberal arts’ number one defender, and a saxophone player with the heart of a trumpet. Last year, I was in high school in the greatest city in the world, Boston!
We are very excited to be your 2025 Alumni Relations chairs! Be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming announcements about Giving Day and other spring shenanigans!
If you ever want to reach out, feel free to contact us at ams896@cornell.edu and mt857@cornell.edu. We look forward to meeting you at Reunion and Homecoming this year!
Peace and heel clicks,
Abbott “Pidge” Sherlock ‘27
Max Troiano ‘28
And now…presenting the only REAL Band Notes in the Ivy League!
Notes from the Ladder: Introducing Your 2025 Drum Major!
Notes from the Office: Introducing Your 2025 Head Manager!
Notes from Lynah: Introducing Your 2025 Pep Band Manager!
Introducing Your 2025 Pep Band Conductors!
Indoor Drumline Cuts the Strings!
Time Flies: A Senior Perspective
Hey Alumni!
My name is Michael “Mike” DiGrado, and some of you may know me as one of the 2024 Saxophone Section Leaders, while others may know me as a junior transfer student. I am currently a senior graduating in May 2025, which is both exciting and scary, to say the least. Senior year approached with no hesitation, and now all I reminisce about are the fun and sax(y) shenanigans of the past two years within the Big Red Bands. While I have only been at Cornell for two years, I genuinely have felt like I have been here for all four; as a first-year (and junior), I was particularly nervous about finding a community that would essentially accept me. Additionally, as an only child and coming from a community college, this was the first time I would be alone for months. However, once I entered the band center for auditions, I knew this community would empower my maturity and lifelong friends.
Memories such as going on trips to Yale and UPenn and then seeing Men’s Hockey win at Lake Placid, my first year was filled with joy and ambition. Even as my senior year and term as section leader began, I wanted to foster the same community that once welcomed me to new members. From Homecoming to away trips to Columbia (and my first Sy Katz parade), I assembled new memories with new members and current friends. Even during winter break, when a couple of us went to play with the alumni band, I knew I had made the right decision to join both the band and Cornell. As the months to graduation keep shrinking, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to always be your true, authentic self. I wouldn’t be in this position without the band or finding great people with whom I can engage in deep conversations. Thank you, band, and I will continue to cherish these memories everywhere I go (even though I will be at Cornell until 2027 for my Master’s, which means I have two more years with the band)!
Holding onto the memories forever,
Michael “Mike” DiGrado
Hey Alumni!
My name is Tommy McFarland (also occasionally referred to as Gator, Thermos, Grass, Tommy tommy tommy tommy, and many other nicknames most of which have failed to stick) and I am your 2025 Pep Band Manager. I’m a Junior Trumpet player from New Rochelle, NY and I’m a Computer Science major with a hopeful Physics minor.
I’m lucky to inherit a band in great shape. Our first rehearsal of the semester gathered close to 90 people in Fischell, plus another 10 who got a suck point. All of our signups have been jam-packed, even with 7 or 8 outside tickets for home games. I’m hoping to keep fostering the growth of the band and make sure that we allow as many people as possible to play along with us. The freshmen are as tenacious as ever, as even I’m struggling to stay above them in points.
Sitting here writing this in North Country on our first away trip of the year, I’m mixed with excitement and anticipation. Our hockey team has certainly taken us for a ride, and for the second game of 2025, we had that newsworthy massive brawl. But, I’m excited for where the road takes us: We have at least two more hockey trips: one to Brown/Yale and one to Union/RPI. Our Masketball team has been doing exceptionally well, so assuming no major surprises (supposedly there’s a 93% chance so I feel safe saying this) we’ll be back to Providence for Ivy Madness. And, if Schafer can get the team together for his last season we might be able to squeeze in a couple more trips to end out the season.
At home, WHockey is showing themselves once again to be one of if not our best team, having won the Ivy League without even playing two of the teams. We’ve also upped our attendance at Wasketball and later this season we’ll be making our way to Wrestling and to both MAX and WAX.
We have a great Pep Board this year, so I also want to give a shout-out to them. Our social chairs are cooking up a ton of fun events (hopefully even a meet and greet with some of the teams). The librarians have been hard at work digitizing the entire folder, turning printing from a 30-minute job into a 1-minute job. Our secretary is writing spectacular emails, and all of our Pep Board is hard at work making people feel welcome and included.
Here’s to a million and one away trips!
Tommy McFarland ‘26
Hey Alumni!
My name is Patrick Thieblemont and I am president of Indoor Drumline. I’m a senior MechE with a minor in Policy Analysis and Management, from Harrisburg, PA, and am a proud member of the drumline in Marching Band, Pep Band, and Indoor. For those of you who don’t know, Indoor Drumline at Cornell University (CUID) is a student-run competitive percussion ensemble that performs a marching floor show featuring both a front ensemble and a battery in the New York State Percussion Circuit, with competitions taking place over the spring semester. Last year, we took 1st place at the NYSPC Championships, and we hope to continue our success this season!
This year’s Indoor Drumline’s show, titled The Puppet Master is an exploration between freedom and oppression. The performers are puppets brought to life, with big marionette string props and masks symbolizing control. Keep an eye out for Kit West, on cymbals, acting as leader of the puppet rebellion, breaking free from the oppression of The Puppet Master, played by Kamili Fernandez, also on cymbals! We are so excited to perform at our first competition at Liverpool High School on March 1st!
If you are interested in learning more about CUID or would just like to see what we do, check us out on Instagram at @cuindoordrumline or at blogs.cornell.edu/indoordrumline!
Come see our show:
Show 1: Sat 3/1, Liverpool HS Competition, 4338 Wetzel Rd, Liverpool NY 13090
Showcase: Sat 3/8, Indoor Drumline Showcase, Barton Hall
Show 2: Sat 3/15, ESM HS Competition, 6400 Fremont Road, East Syracuse NY 13057
Champs: Sun 3/30, Championships at Gates Chili HS, 1 Spartan Way, Rochester, NY 14624
Wish us luck!
Patrick Thieblemont ‘25
Hey Alumni!!
My name is Emily Mawhinney and I am excited to introduce myself as your 2025 Head Manager! I’m from Cape May, NJ and a Junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, majoring in Environment and Sustainability and minoring in Entomology. Outside of the BRMB, I am involved in the Cornell University Indoor Drumline where I am one of the Show Designers and I am a member of the McArt Lab where I study bees and how they are affected by antimicrobials and pesticides.
Within the band, I am a proud member of both the Drumline and Clarinet Section. Last year I was the BRMB Treasurer and the year before that I was a Special Events Coordinator and Philanthropy Coordinator! I hope to use those experiences to guide my term as HM. For example, we are continuing a tradition that started during my term as Philanthropy Coordinator by volunteering at the Science Center for a third year in a row, allowing us to give back to the wider Ithaca community. In the same vein, I am excited for our Spring Concert, which will take place in Ithaca Commons on April 27th, sharing our music with the Ithaca residents who would not otherwise hear us play!
In the Fall, I hope to recruit and retain as many new members as possible to help fill the hole the amazing group of seniors will be leaving behind! To do this, I will focus on ensuring that orientation week and new member events have a welcoming environment and lots of energy! To help with retention, I will be encouraging the upperclassmen and bandstaph to bring as much passion and positivity as they can during the season! This year we have an amazing group of people on our Bandstaph and I have no doubt that they will do amazing things for the growth of this group! I also have no doubt that our new Drum Major, Josh Faber, will bring that same energy and enthusiasm, and I am very excited to work with him and lead this group to a successful season together!
During the marching season, we will be going to Yale, Harvard, and UPenn! We are looking forward to playing at Faneuil Hall during our Harvard trip and hopefully returning to playing at Herald Square during our Yale trip. We hope to see you there!
Here’s to a great season!!
Emily Mawhinney ‘26
We are Catherine and Lauren, and we are your Spring ‘25 Pep Conductors! Both of us have conducted the Pep Band in the past, and we are more than honored to do it again this semester. We are seeing a lot of familiar and new faces at weekly rehearsals, which works well for our future as we have a large senior class graduating but a large class of dedicated first-year students as well!
