Hey Alumni! 
My name is Emily Mawhinney and I was your 2025 Head Manager. I am a senior majoring in Environment and Sustainability and minoring in Entomology
The Big Red Marching Band has had such a fun year and I am so excited to share with you everything that we have been up to!
During the off season we played at some fun events such as Dragon Day and the Hotel Schools Server Derby. We held our own Spring Concert in the Commons, where we had just an absolute blast. And over the summer we played at reunion events and saw many of you at our Band Luncheon!
We started off the school year with several recruitment events like New Student Orientation and Auditions/Open house. We then held our first night, where new members got to learn our traditions and meet the sections. In the coming weeks we started learning our drill at rehearsal and band camp. We also worked on Cornell Victorious with the football team after one of their practices!
Then, we hit the ground running with our trip to Yale, where we got to see a lot of alumni and marched for our first audience of the season. We then had the pleasure to welcome you all back to the Hill with Homecoming. Shout out to our alumni chairs for hosting such a great luncheon and it was so much fun to play with everyone again! On our away trip to Harvard we got to play a Friday Night Lights game and met the wonderful Harvard band. The next day we performed a concert at Faneuil Hall (my favorite memory of the season)! Thank you to everyone who came out to watch us perform. The next few home games were great, with a four game winning streak and a visit from the ever friendly Princeton band. We then visited the University of Pennsylvania for our final away trip, with an exciting surprise that we would be able to play both a pre game and a halftime show! Last but not least we wrapped up our season with a home game against Columbia! We were able to continue the tradition of performing in the libraries with a very exciting concert in the cocktail lounge. We also bid our seniors farewell with the senior concert. It was really meaningful to me as a senior to watch all of my friends, who I went through the BRMB with, conduct a song to close out the season.
I am extremely grateful to have had the pleasure of leading this band over the past year. I have grown a lot as both a leader and person, and I will always be grateful for this opportunity. It was also very rewarding to watch all of the sophomores and juniors grow into being leaders within the band, and I am very excited to see the direction in which they take this group.
I want to send a shout out to my wonderful Drum Major Josh – Thank you for leading with me through the craziness of this role. From football games to band center gas leaks, we’ve been through a lot, and I am very happy to have done it alongside you.
Also a huge thank you to my wonderful Bandstaph. Nothing we do is possible without you, and I am very grateful for the work each and every one of you put in!
Thank you band!
Emily Mawhinney