HEY ALUMNI!
This year has certainly been one to remember. The Big Red Marching Band has had a lot of surprises this season – some we planned, and some not so planned. But above all, we were excellent and I am more than proud to say that I served alongside Kathleen during the 2017 season. My time in the Big Red Bands is coming to a close, and my time as Drum Major is almost entirely behind me. Studying Psychology has been the basis for my Cornell education, but it has been the Big Red Bands that I believe has prepared me the most for my future endeavors. I am very grateful for the experiences that this band has given me, and I hope my contributions served the band well.
The Marching Band has had a tremendous year! We have raised the bar in our shows by stressing the importance of fundamentals and working hard to project our sound. We kicked off our season at Yale and at home against Colgate with “THE MODERN BRITISH INVASION SHOW” starting with Bastille’s Pompeii. Our halftime show included a medley featuring Adele’s Someone Like You & Rumor Has It, which featured both our tones and alto saxes, and then finished that show Amy Winehouse’s version of Valerie brought to us as a student arrangement by our very own Katherine Curtis. `We then continued our season at two home games against Harvard and Bucknell with “THE DANCE SHOW” which featured the band in many different ways. We kicked off the performance with Michael Jackson’s Thriller where we had all instruments and guard members perform a short version of the dance while percussion and the tubas played. We continued this show of features with Men Without Hats’ Safety Dance, went into our percussion feature written by our fabulous percussion section during which the trombone section displayed awesome trombone suicides, and then we finished the performance with Disco Inferno.
The second half of our season was even more challenging, but also more rewarding when we moved into “THE UNDEAD SHOW” as our Homecoming performance during the Brown game as well as on the road to Princeton. For this show, we kicked off with Radiohead’s Creep, featuring our beautiful dynamic contrasts and music intensity. We then finished with Phantom of the Opera and of course JCS, our alumni song! During the Princeton trip, we also had the privilege of stopping in New York City to perform in Herald Square! We then wrapped up the season strong with our “ELTON JOHN SHOW” for our final home game against Columbia and for our last trip at Penn(SUCKS)! This show featured Funeral for a Friend, Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting, and “Your Song” with Luke Ellert-Beck ’20 performing a beautiful solo during the senior song.
This season was certainly full of amazing opportunities, but it also presented us with many challenges. We have really pushed through and truly have demonstrated a new potential. The band is an ever-changing group of people that always find a way to come together and stay strong during the toughest of times. I am honored to have been part of this amazing organization during my college career and I am even more ecstatic that I can call this place my home at Cornell forever. Thank you for the amazing life-long friendships and experiences! And thank you, band!
-Jeff Crosby ‘18