Hey Alumni!
Hi! My name is Ella, but most people in the band call me Tumble. I’m a junior trumpet majoring in computer science and pursuing a minor in data science. Previously, I was a Webmaster on bandstaph in 2025. I’m really looking forward to meeting a lot of you this year!
Hi! My name is Astrid, but everyone calls me AJ. I’m a junior sax from Charlotte, North Carolina double majoring in Government and American Studies with minors in Africana Studies and Theater. I served as a Fundraising Chair and DEI Chair on the 2024 bandstaph. If you’re in the Class of ‘85, you may remember me as one of your 40th Reunion Clerks! I’m so excited to meet y’all in the 2026 season!
We are both thrilled to be your 2026 Alumni Relations chairs! We’ll make announcements about Giving Day, Reunion, and other spring events here soon. Please reach out to us at ems474@cornell.edu and acj68@cornell.edu with any questions you may have.
Peace and endless snow,
Ella “Tumble” Schneyer ‘27
Astrid “AJ” James ‘27
And now…presenting the only REAL Band Notes in the Ivy League!
Notes from the Office: Introducing Your 2026 Head Manager!
Notes from the Ladder: Introducing Your 2026 Drum Major!
Notes from Lynah: Introducing Your 2026 Pep Band Manager!
Introducing Your 2026 Pep Conductors!
Introducing Your 2026 CUID President!
The Magic: A Senior Perspective
Hey Olds!
As I prepare to join you in the mysterious beyond of post-graduate life, I am honored to have been asked to write this note to keep you updated on my little corner of the Big Red Bands. My name is Wins—“Jacob,” if you insist—and I’ve played trumpet here for four years. Although I knew I wanted to play in the Pep Band from the get-go, it took me a few years to properly join Marching. I only wish they had zipped me into that uniform and shoved me on the field earlier! I’m happy to report that the irreplaceable Band community is still going strong. As I write this, I am surrounded by some of my favorite people in this world, all of whom I met through Band. Even as we near graduation, I know they will remain in my life—and that makes the memories we share even more special. As I wrote in my journal after my first First Night, “I think these are my people.”
Being a senior so close to graduation is… a lot. I’ve been thinking about the future near-constantly. I don’t know what will come of my grad school applications* or professional aspirations—but I do know who’s in my corner. I know who will be there to celebrate or mourn—who will always be there for me. You know, I somehow didn’t cry at Non-Sec this year. I am now.
To quote the speech I gave then: “We’re moving on, but part of the beauty of this thing is that it will outlive all of us. We’re a part of its history now. And not only will the connection remain through Homecoming, and calls to olds on First Night, and friendships that continue; and not only through the memories we’ve made; but especially, for me, through the knowledge that the Band lives on—that hundreds of kids like us will continue to have adventures, and meet new friends, and play the songs we all played, and cry at Non-Sec as they tell everyone in this room how important they are, and how much they love them all.”
I can only hope that your experience in Band was as impactful as mine. And even more strongly, I hope that current and future Bandies feel the same magic I did—and do—and that they build up that magic, forge those connections, and keep the Band special, safe, and sacred. I have a lot of trust in our new leadership, and am especially excited to watch our underclassmen grow into the next generation of leaders. Rest assured, the Band is in a good place.
Yours,
Wins Weinstein ‘26
*Two days after writing this, I learned I had been accepted to a PhD program at Penn (say the line…) and will be attending in the fall!
Hey Everyone!
We’re Daniel and Jonathan, and we are your Pep Conductors for the Spring 2026 semester!
So far we have gone on two trips this semester: Brown/Yale and RPI/Union. Looking ahead, we will be traveling to Princeton/Quinnipiac for the first time in a while, and then we will once again celebrate the end of the season at fancy Mhockey! Both Mhockey and Whockey have claimed the Ivy League Title this year, and we look forward to cheering them on throughout the rest of the season!
This semester we have also gotten to attend several basketball games and wrestling matches. With Ivy Madness in Ithaca this year, Cornell is still in the hunt for a spot, and we will continue to cheer them on! We are also excited to support our lacrosse teams later this semester, especially as the men’s team defends their title as NCAA champions!
In music news, we continue to work on expanding the folder with fun songs! We are currently running a cheersheet competition, and are looking forward to seeing what arrangements people come up with!
Daniel “do I have strep or am I just shouting in ice rinks?” Fransen ’27
Jonathan “clean your water bottle” Miller ’26
Hi! My name is Kamili Fernandez and I am the President of the Indoor Drumline at Cornell University (CUID). I am a junior majorin
g in Animal Science, originally from Miami, Florida, and I play tenor. I am also Drum Captain in Marching Band and involved in Pep Band, so band has really shaped my Cornell experience. CUID in particular has given me some of my favorite memories and closest friendships, and I am so excited to help lead the group this season.
For those who may not know much about us, 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. Our season is short and intense, which makes it special.
This year’s show is titled The Crow. The crows are a militant force oppressing the swans, until a swan and a crow fall in love and lead a revolution. The music moves between haunting and whimsical, with birdsong layered throughout the production. We are using an arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake to help tell the story visually and musically. One element we are especially excited about this year is the addition of guard actors portraying the swan and the crow, which brings the storyline to life in a whole new way. It is theatrical, intense, and one of the most creative shows we have taken on.
My biggest goals this year are consistency and culture. I want every member to feel confident in their role and proud of what we are building together. Competitive success is always exciting, but what matters most to me is creating an environment where people feel motivated, supported, and excited to perform. We have a hardworking and talented group this season, and we can’t wait to perform this spring.
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 email us at cuindoordrumline@gmail.com
Come see our show:
Competition 1: Sat 3/7, Paul V Moore High School, Central Square, NY 13036
Competition 2: Sat 3/14, ESM High School, 6400 Fremont Road, East Syracuse NY 13057
Showcase: Sat 3/21, Indoor Drumline Showcase, Barton Hall
Championships: Sun 3/29, Gates Chili High School, 1 Spartan Way, Rochester, NY 14624
Thank you for continuing to support CUID! We are excited to share The Crow with you this spring and hope to see you at a show!
Kamili Fernandez ’27
Hey Alumni!!
My name is Brian “Dawgs” Gu, and I’m your 2026 Pep Band Manager! I am a Trumpet, Horn, and Clarinet from Hopkinton, MA (the start of the Boston Marathon) studying Finance and Food Industry Management in the Dyson School! Previously, I was the Marching Band’s Treasurer in 2025, and the Fundraising and Philanthropy Chair in 2024. Outside of band, I am heavily involved on campus through professional societies, client-based business clubs, Outdoor Odyssey, greek life, and my very own DJ collective. Above all, I have found my favorite and fondest memories in Pep Band, and I hope I can give back to this organization to the fullest this year!
We have been off to a great start this first month and a half of pep! We’ve had around 24 events so far from rehearsals, away trips, home Men’s Hockey, Women’s Hockey, Women’s Club Hockey, Women’s Basketball, wrestling meets, and much more! Every event has been filled to the brim with bandies, and a lot of new members were able to have many different firsts (pep away trips and Harvard rivalries).
A highlight of the 2026 year so far was our trip to Brown & Yale! After hotel and ticket negotiations and accommodations, we were able to bring over 50 band members to New Haven and Providence. Blasting songs like Impression, Dr. Worm, and Birdland as the largest band in away team territory was a great time. We even got a big shoutout from Head Coach Casey Jones and the players for the big red spirit! At the same time, we even had over 20 members at home to support the Women’s Hockey team.
Now as we enter the final stretch of the regular season and a potential playoff run we have a packed schedule! The band will travel to Princeton/Quinnipiac for the first time in 4 years before returning back to a packed Lynah for the senior and fancy weekend against SLU and Clarkson. Also if the Women’s Hockey team does well, they’ll be playing the ECAC Women’s Hockey championship in Lake Placid! For basketball, Ivy madness will be hosted in Ithaca this year, so no need to travel. Further out, we have lacrosse getting back in session and after a championship high last season, we are looking forward to the various renditions of Davy to come.
I am so excited for what Pep Band can do this year whether that be with new trips, games, or on-campus events. I’m looking forward to strengthening the band’s special culture and traditions, and growing our community and adventures in 2026. Stay tuned, stop by when you are in the area, and please reach out!
Let’s Go Red!
Brian “Dawgs” Gu ‘27
Hey Alumni! 
My name is Allison Weiher, and I’m a Junior from Wisconsin majoring in Plant Sciences, with minors in Climate Change and Data Science. Outside of band, I’m involved in the Cornell Environmental Collaborative and Hortus Forum, and I also do research in the Moore Lab with breeding for sustainable cropping systems. I’m a proud member of the horn section (though I’ve managed to play a game in Lynah with every section!), and I was Horn Section Leader in 2025 (and part of 2024)! Now, I am beyond honored to be your 2026 Drum Major, not to mention the first horn DM in what I believe to be 50 years!
I am so lucky to be inheriting the band in such good shape and am so grateful for all that Josh accomplished last year. We have an amazing crew of freshmen that have found their home in the band, and I’m fortunate enough to get to work directly with some of them as Show Committee members and Section Leaders! One of my goals for the year is to help foster a stronger support system amongst SLs to give us all a solid footing when we head into the chaos of the fall. We just had an SL bonding dinner, and I loved seeing everyone get to know each other better, so I hope to continue finding new ways to connect more!
While the BRMB is still in the off-season, we’ve been busy behind the scenes. We’re currently in the process of selecting songs to march next fall, and ShowComm has done such an amazing job at finding so many fun arrangements for us to choose from! And with music rehearsals starting back up again soon, I am excited to work on reviving folder songs that we haven’t played in a while, while also incorporating a couple of the band’s favorites that we marched in recent years.
I can’t wait to get the full band back together for Giving Day in just a few weeks, with everyone back in uniform and blasting my face off – hopefully with a bit more normal livestream experience than last year, thanks to our amazing Licensing Committee’s hard work! Looking forward, we have classic performances like Dragon Day (OI OI OI!), Server Derby, and, of course, Spring Concert. I’m particularly looking forward to our Cornell Days performances where we’ll get our first chance to meet the next generation of future bandies in the class of 2030! Before I know it, it’ll be the fall, and they’ll all be here standing amongst us at First Night, experiencing the joy and wonder of this organization. I aspire to make the BRMB as friendly and welcoming of a community as it was for me when I was just a shy, quiet freshman. From bringing back HM/DM Open Office time (perhaps with fun activities before rehearsals) to crashing section dinners, I’m so excited to welcome in an amazing class of new members! Let’s Go Red!
Allison Weiher ‘27
Hey Alumni!!
My name is Abigail “Heck” Heck and I am super excited to be the 2026 Head Manager of the BRMB! I am from Aquebogue, NY (a small town on the northfork of Long Island) and am a Junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, majoring in Biology on the pre-med track and minoring in Business and Infectious Diseases. Within the BRMB, I have had the pleasure of serving as one of the 2025 Clarinet Section Leaders as well as the 2024 Secretary. Outside of band, I am a student advisor for my major and am involved in several biology and health education/advocacy organizations on campus.
This year, one of my main goals is to increase the band’s ability to share our work beyond the football field. In response to the recent university audit, I appointed a special committee focused on music licensing so that we can once again record and post performances in a way that is sustainable and compliant. Being able to share our music is an important part of our identity, and I am excited to take concrete steps toward restoring that visibility for the band so we can show everyone just how awesome we are!
I am also working to further integrate our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee into the core of our band culture. This includes intentionally setting aside time during rehearsals for DEI-related announcements and updates, ensuring that these efforts are consistent, visible, and valued by the entire organization.
I hope to streamline how we teach and support members who join the band without prior instrument experience by creating clearer processes and stronger support systems, so that every member feels confident, welcomed, and empowered to grow. In addition, our Philanthropy Coordinators have been working hard to connect us to more events across Cornell and the greater Ithaca Community. We are partnering with the Tompkins County Public Library and the Cornell Child Care Center to show local students what marching band is all about!
I am incredibly excited to work alongside our Bandstaph, section leaders, and members as we continue to build a band that is inclusive, adaptable, and proud of both its people and its music. Looking ahead to the fall, we will be traveling with the football team to Georgetown (for the first time since 2011), Princeton, and Columbia! There is already buzz around the Sy Katz Parade, and we are all absolutely thrilled for this special experience. I’m looking forward to another great season and hope to see many of you at our performances and events throughout the year. Go Red 
Abigail “Heck” Heck ’27
