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A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR OF BANDS, KEVIN M. GERALDI

Dear Alumni and Friends of the Illinois Bands,

Greetings from historic Harding Band Building!

My colleagues and I are very happy to share this update about Year 155 of our Illinois Bands program, as well as an enthusiastic look ahead to the 2024–2025 academic year. Guiding our renowned program is an incredible privilege, and our fantastic team works together every day to create memorable, meaningful, and relevant experiences for our students and community. I hope you will enjoy reading about the various highlights of our year.

I am extremely fortunate to work with the best team in the profession—my band faculty colleagues Barry Houser, Kim Fleming, and Hannah Rudy! Together with our fantastic staff and graduate assistants, our highest priority is providing the students in Illinois Bands and the classes we teach with amazing experiences that serve their needs.

Our concert bands, Marching Illini, and athletic bands continue to reflect the very best our university has to offer. Hundreds of students from across the university come together to make music in Illinois Bands each semester. These students devote considerable time, energy, and effort to create exceptional musical experiences for one another and our audiences. I am continually impressed by the tremendous commitment and level of accomplishment every ensemble member contributes so we can achieve great things together. That is the True Illini Spirit!

The coming academic year has many exciting things in store for students in our all our ensembles, as you’ll see in the newsletter. I hope you’ll visit us online at bands.illinois.edu and marchingillini.com, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our YouTube channels (@universityofillinoisbands and @MarchingIllini) so you can always be up to date as we continue leading the way with our concert bands, athletic bands, music education program, and graduate conducting studio.

We begin the new academic year with an Attitude of Gratitude. Thank you to all our alumni and friends for the generous support that allows us to offer exceptional experiences for our students and sustain the success of our program. This newsletter highlights and celebrates the many ways in which our program is enhanced by donor support. Every contribution is greatly appreciated. It is my hope that seeing the impact of your donations at work sparks your imagination for the future.

All of us in the Harding Band Building hope you will join us for Homecoming, a game in Memorial Stadium or State Farm Center, a concert in the Foellinger Great Hall, and for many other events and performances throughout the coming year.

GO ILLINI!

Sincerely,

Kevin M. Geraldi Director of Bands

FACULTY & STAFF

DR. KEVIN M. GERALDI director of bands

As director of bands, Kevin conducts the Wind Symphony, leads the graduate wind conducting program, teaches courses in wind literature and conducting, and guides all aspects of the Bands program at the University of Illinois.

PROFESSOR BARRY L. HOUSER

associate director of bands

Barry directs all aspects of the Athletic Bands program and leads the famed Marching Illini. In addition, he serves as conducting area head for the School of Music, conducts the Wind Orchestra, and teaches courses in conducting.

AARON KAVELMAN

percussion instructor properties manager

Aaron serves as instructor of the Marching Illini Drumline, assists with percussion for all bands, and manages the Illinois Bands Properties room, inventory, and staff.

REID LASLEY mi field assistant

Reid has been part of the Illinois Bands program for eight years, and currently serves as field assistant with Marching Illini. Reid is currently ABD in trombone performance and works in the Grainger College of Engineering in engagement and alumni relations.

DR. KIMBERLY FLEMING

assistant director of bands

Kim conducts the Hindsley Symphonic Band and teaches courses in instrumental conducting and rehearsal methods.

KAITLYN PUGH mi guard instructor

Kaitlyn, a former Marching Illini Color Guard captain, is in her third year as MI guard instructor. She teaches full time at Danville High School.

DR. HANNAH RUDY

assistant director of athletic bands

Hannah assists with all aspects of the Athletic Bands and directs volleyball and basketball bands. In addition, she conducts the University Band and teaches courses in instrumental conducting and marching band techniques.

JOY McCLAUGHERTY business admin associate

Joy manages the Illinois Bands Office and coordinates Bands student staffing. She also handles all logistics for events including the SuperState Concert Band Festival and Band Conductors Symposium.

GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS

JACOB ARCHE

sterling heights, michigan mme mi teaching assistant

Jacob Arche is pursuing a master’s degree in music education at the University of Illinois and serves as a graduate teaching assistant for the Illinois Athletic Bands. Jacob earned his bachelor of science degree in microbiology with a minor in music from the University of Michigan in 2018. While at Michigan, Jacob was involved in several ensembles including the University Band, Michigan Basketball Band, and Michigan Marching Band.

ANDREW McGOWAN

macomb, illinois ad euphonium performance mi teaching assistant

Andrew McGowan is a contemporary performing artist pursuing a master of music degree from the University of Illinois. He holds a diploma in band instrument repair from Minnesota State College Southeast and a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University where he studied music composition, euphonium performance, and took additional classes in conducting and music education.

ALEX MONDRAGON boulder, colorado dma conducting

Alex earned his master of music degree in wind conducting from The Ohio State University where he served as a graduate teaching associate and assisted with all aspects of the band program. Prior to his time at Ohio State, Alex served as the assistant director of bands at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, while teaching beginning band and working with local middle school programs. Alex holds a bachelor of music education from the University of Colorado.

JAQUAN O. WILEY

thomasville, north carolina mm conducting

JaQuan Wiley is pursuing a master’s degree in wind band conducting at the University of Illinois. Prior to coming to Illinois, he taught in the North Carolina public schools, most recently at Asheville High School where he served as assistant director of bands. He also served as conductor of the Western Piedmont Youth Symphony in Hickory, North Carolina. JaQuan earned his bachelor of music degree in music education from Appalachian State University.

SHERIDAN MACKEY

tulsa, oklahoma mm saxophone performance mi teaching assistant

Sheridan earned her bachelor of music in saxophone performance from Oklahoma State University in 2022. While at Oklahoma State, she was a member of various ensembles including the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Frontiers New Music Ensemble, Saxophone Ensemble, and Cowboy Marching Band. As a member of the Cowboy Marching Band, she served two years as a music and marching section leader. Prior to moving to Illinois, Sheridan spent one year pursuing a master’s degree in saxophone performance at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

REBECCA MULLIGAN

waxhaw, north carolina mm conducting

Rebecca earned her bachelor of music in music education degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2019, she enlisted into the United States Army where she served with the 3rd Infantry Division Band and toured twice with the US Army Field Band. She continues to serve with the 208th Army Reserve Band in Concord, North Carolina.

JACKSON PARKER leitchfield, kentucky dma trombone performance mi teaching assistant

Jackson Parker completed his master’s degree in trombone performance at the University of Alabama and his bachelor’s degree in instrumental music education at Western Kentucky University. While attending The University of Alabama, Jackson served as a graduate teaching assistant where he assisted in the daily operations of the University Bands. At Western Kentucky, he served as a brass instructor for various marching bands and performed with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra.

ILLINOIS BAND CONDUCTING SYMPOSIUM

Conductors

The conductors participated in lectures and discussions and conducted the Illinois Wind Symphony and Wind Orchestra with coaching by Director of Bands Kevin Geraldi and guest clinician Craig Kirchhoff, director of bands emeritus from the University of Minnesota. They also met privately with Barry Houser, Kim Fleming, and Hannah Rudy.

This year’s event will take place on February 13–14, 2025, with Gary Green as our guest clinician. Prof. Green is director of bands emeritus at the University of Miami, where he coordinated the graduate program in wind conducting and guided all aspects of the band program from 1993 to 2015. Registration for next year’s symposium will open on Monday, December 2, 2024. More information can be found at https://www.bands.illinois.edu/ conducting-symposium.

CONCERT BAND CALENDAR

MARCH

5 WIND SYMPHONY CHAMBER WINDS SRH 5:30PM

7 HINDSLEY SYMPHONIC BAND AND WIND ORCHESTRA FGH 7:30PM

APRIL

WIND ORCHESTRA FGH 6:30PM

30 ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY FGH 7:30PM

19 UNIVERSITY BAND AND HINDSLEY SYMPHONIC BAND FGH 7:30PM

20 WIND ORCHESTRA FGH 7:30PM

4 ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY FGH 7:30PM FEBRUARY

18 ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY FGH 7:30PM

3 ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY FGH 7:30PM

25 HINDSLEY SYMPHONIC BAND AND WIND ORCHESTRA FGH 7:30PM

27 CAMPUS BAND AND UNIVERSITY BAND FGH 3:00PM

MAY

1 ILLINOIS WIND SYMPHONY FGH 7:30PM

9–10 ILLINOIS SUPERSTATE CONCERT BAND FESTIVAL FGH ALL DAY

On May 3–4, we welcomed middle school and high school bands from around the state for our annual Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival.

Each group selected to attend was honored with a performance in Foellinger Great Hall in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. We were joined by renowned adjudicators Cheryl Floyd, Arris Golden, Scott Teeple, Richard Floyd, Joseph Parisi, Alfred Watkins, and Mallory Thompson.

This year’s festival will take place on May 9–10, 2025, with the Middle School/ Junior High and High School Class 2A bands performing on Friday and the High School Class 1A and 3A bands performing on Saturday. Our on-site evaluators will include Rodney Dorsey, Brian Doyle, Michael Haithcock, Dana PradervandSedatole, Scott Rush, Kevin Sedatole, Emily Threinen, and Nicholas Williams. Applications will open on Monday, December 2, 2024. More information, including this year’s recording evaluators, can be found at: https://www.bands. illinois.edu/superstate-2024

FGH – FOELLINGER GREAT HALL SRH – SMITH RECITAL HALL

CONCERT BAND HIGHLIGHTS

2023–2024

During the 2023–24 school year, Illinois Bands hosted many acclaimed composers, conductors, and guest artists as we led the way in the programming and performance of great repertoire for concert band. The University of Illinois Bands regards diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values integral to guiding our progress toward excellence, and that philosophy is represented throughout our accomplishments this year.

The Illinois Wind Symphony proudly presented three world premieres this year. In September, composer Hilary Purrington was in residency for the premiere performance of apricity, commissioned by Illinois Bands and a consortium of twenty-three other institutions. November featured the premiere of School of Music faculty member Stephen Taylor’s Maximum Underground. In April, the Wind Symphony presented the world premiere of Darkening, Then Brightening by groundbreaking composer Christopher Cerrone, featuring acclaimed soprano Lindsay Kesselman. Performances of all three fantastic pieces can be heard on our YouTube channel.

If you would like to support our work in cultivating the next generation of great

composers and concert band repertoire, please consider contributing to the James F. Keene Bands Commission Fund.

In February, Juan José Navarro, professor of conducting at the University of Almería (Spain), traveled to UIUC to guest conduct the Wind Symphony on several Spanish works and teach our undergraduate and graduate conducting students. Our year finished in May with international clarinet soloist Julian Bliss in residence for a performance of John Mackey’s tour-deforce concerto, Divine Mischief. Bliss’s residency was made possible through a partnership between Illinois Bands and Dansr, Inc., the North American distributor for the Vandoren Corporation. Other composers visited on campus or virtually, including Lindsay Bronnenkant, Ryan Lindveit, Augusta Read Thomas, and Zhou Tian. Featured soloists with Illinois Bands included faculty members Amy Gilreath, William Moersch, and Ben Roidl-Ward, and the graduate student brass quintet and saxophone quartet.

In April, the Wind Symphony performed at the Chicagoland Invitational Concert Band Festival, hosted by John F. Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois for an enthusiastic audience of about 1,500 band students, parents, and directors.

Support for all these activities, and many more, was provided by the Illinois Bands Loyalty Fund, which provides substantial funding for all elements of the Illinois Bands program.

ILLINOIS SUMMER BAND PRESENTS 112 TH YEAR OF TWILIGHT CONCERTS

During summer 2024, over 130 current students, alumni, and friends of Illinois Bands came together to rehearse and perform two twilight concerts conducted by the entire team of band faculty members. Barry Houser and Kevin Geraldi conducted the performance on June 20, and Kim Fleming and Hannah Rudy shared the July 18 concert. A large audience attended both performances on the Quad, which featured a wide range of standard and popular selections.

BAND AWARDS 2024

GUY M. DUKER SYMPHONIC BAND AWARD

KEVIN VALOIS GOMEZ, BME ’24 OWEN MELDON, BM ’24

JERRY MIN, BM ’24 (not pictured) LORRAINE MONTANA, MM ’24

JULIA STOWELL, MM ’24

EDMUND C. WILLIAMS EXCELLENCE AWARD

KAITLYN DUNN, AD ’25

EDUARDO ORTIZ, BME ’24

LUKE YOAKAM, DMA ’25

MARK HINDSLEY AWARD

MADISON BOOTH, DMA ’25

TANNER DAY, BM ’24

JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN, DMA ’25

SALLY EMRICH PIERCE AND C. DAVID PIERCE SCHOLARSHIP

ILLINOIS MARCHING BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 52nd Illinois Marching Band Championships were a huge success!

We welcomed forty-three bands to historic Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 14, 2023. The Marching Illini drumline and sousaphones opened the exhibition performances followed by the Marching Illini performing their 2023 Pink Floyd show. In addition to the MI, we were fortunate to have the King Cobras All-Ability Drumline under the direction of MI alum Dale Hallerberg perform an upbeat and exciting show for the crowd. To conclude the 2023 Championships, we were thrilled to present Mahomet–Seymour High School with the Governor’s Grand Champion award for class 1A–3A and O’Fallon Township High School with the Governor’s Grand Champion award for class 4A–6A.

We are excited to host forty high school bands on October 26, 2024, for the 53rd Illinois Marching Band Championships. The registered bands are divided into six classifications based on IHSA school enrollment. IMBC provides participating marching bands with feedback from the nation’s finest adjudicators, relevant and educational evaluation rubrics, and the thrill of performing in historic Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Illinois. For more information and the list of participating bands, please visit https://www.bands.illinois.edu/imbc-confirmedparticipants.

MICHELLE BELL, DMA ’24

THOMAS J. HARRIS AWARD

HANA MAREK, BME ’24

JONATHAN DUFRESNE, DMA ’24 NATHAN MAHER, MM ’24

A.A. HARDING AWARD

HOMECOMING

GREETINGS TO ALL UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BAND ALUMNI, FAMILIES, FRIENDS, FACULTY, STAFF, AND CURRENT STUDENTS!

If I have not yet met you, my name is Tom Jozefowicz, and I’m president of the Band Alumni Association. I played sousaphone in the Marching Illini and graduated in 2018. I hope you all are as excited as I am for the fall 2024 Illinois Football season and are counting down the days to Homecoming 2024!

The Illinois Bands faculty, current Marching Illini, and Alumni Band Board look forward to welcoming all of our dedicated alumni back to campus for an extra-early homecoming this year where the Fighting Illini take on Central Michigan University on September 14. Whether you were able to join us last year, or it has been decades since your last homecoming, you will be impressed by the current band and faculty who carry on the strong legacy of the Illinois Bands program while continuing to build new traditions.

Last homecoming, we welcomed back over 200 Alumni on the field to put on terrific Pregame and Halftime shows. Off the field, we hosted a two-hour reception on Friday night at the iHotel that that featured an open bar, food, and live music which allowed us the opportunity to catch up with one another following the parade. This year, we hope to build on that success by welcoming even more alumni back to campus. This year’s homecoming theme is “Illinois. Together. Forever.” I can think of no better way to bring this theme to life than by joining old and new friends on the field! Professor Houser has promised to bring back some of our favorite selections for Alumni Band to play, and will allow the alumni to vote on which songs to bring back this year, so be on the lookout for emails and social media posts that will let you vote!

For more information on Homecoming 2024, please visit: https://www.bands.illinois.edu/homecoming

Lastly, I want to personally thank all our Band Alumni Board and Homecoming Committee volunteers for their work, ideas, and support for the current members of the Illinois Bands program and the greater Band Alumni family. As always, I want to extend a huge thank you to Barry, Kevin, Hannah, Kim, and Joy for all they do at the Harding Band Building—so much that we see, and even more that we do not see—to make us all proud with the way they continue to make the Best Band in the Land even better!

If you would like to volunteer to serve on the Band Alumni Board or work with us on any of our future events, please email uibandsalumni@gmail.com. Like any ensemble or organization, it is truly a team effort and we appreciate your involvement in any way you are able. GO ILLINI!!!

Tom Jozefowicz

President, University of Illinois Bands Alumni

TENTATIVE HOMECOMING 2024 SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

11:00 AM Band Alumni Board Meeting—Any interested alumni are welcome to attend | Harding Band Building 141

12:30 PM Alumni Band Registration | Harding Band Building

3:00 PM Alumni Band Welcome and Rehearsal, registration closes | Harding Band Building

4:30 PM Break

5:30 PM Parade (time to be confirmed)

7:00 PM Illinois Bands Alumni Reception | I-Hotel

10:00 PM Friday Night Hype | Alma Mater, corner of Wright and Green

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

6:00 AM Registration opens at Memorial Stadium

6:30 AM FEET ON THE FIELD—Alumni Band Rehearsal (mandatory for those marching on the field) | Memorial Stadium

8:15 AM Rehearsal concludes with seating assignments and announcements, tent

9:15 AM Lunch served | Harding Band Building

10:10 AM March out to Stadium from the Armory

10:30 AM Alumni Band Pregame Show Performance

11:00 AM Illinois vs Central Michigan Kickoff

HALFTIME PERFORMANCE

POST-GAME MARCH-OUT

MARCHING ILLINI HIGHLIGHTS

2023–2024

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE MARCHING ILLINI, BARRY L. HOUSER

Dear Fellow Illinois Bands Alumni,

Greetings from the iconic and historic Harding Band Building!

As I enter my fourteenth year at Illinois, it is an absolute honor and incredible privilege to serve our program as the director of the Marching Illini, associate director of bands, chair of our conducting area, and clinical associate professor in the School of Music. I am excited to collaborate and work with our amazing team in Illinois Bands and our brilliant students who contribute so much to our historic but also relevant comprehensive program.

The start of this season and academic year marks the 156th year of the University of Illinois Bands and the 156th edition of the Marching Illini #band156. Once again, we had approximately 600 new students express interest in joining the Marching Illini. This year’s edition of the Marching Illini should be absolutely spectacular with a lot of retention from last year. We are grateful for so many who continue to be interested in joining the Best Band in the Land, the Nation’s Premier College Marching Band.

As we begin this season with True Illini Spirit and an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE, I want to thank you for contributing to our March Forth campaign. The 2024 campaign smashed all previous fundraising records for this event! Your generous donations are being used daily and will benefit the students in the Marching Illini for years to come. Your generosity is helping us to provide experiences of a lifetime along with better instruments, upgrades to Harding, a new Marching Illini van, equipment, defraying costs associated with required attire, and an increasing number of awards/scholarships to recognize our talented and dedicated students.

On a similar note, our Loyalty Scholarship Fund grows closer to reaching our goal of $1,000,000 by 2025. This fund was created so we can recognize and THANK our graduating seniors for their LOYALTY to the Marching Illini an honorarium of $500. If this is an area you wish to assist, please contact our director of advancement.

We have another exciting fall planned as we support our Fighting Illini football team—our complete schedule can be found at https:// marchingillini.com and in this newsletter. Some highlights of our season include the following:

• The first schedule with our new members of the Big Ten and the expansion of the College Football Playoff

• Seven home games which are very front and back loaded this year

• A trip to Rock Island for their Labor Day Parade

• A much earlier Homecoming Weekend in early September

• An exhibition performance in Urbana for the Central, Centennial and Urbana HS Bands

• The Marching Illini Live in Concert in State Farm Center (Assembly Hall) on October 20th following the 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium concert is at 3:00 PM

• And the anticipation of possible bowl travel GO ILLINI!

Please make every effort to join us for Homecoming 2024 that will undoubtedly ignite the spirit of nostalgia and camaraderie! As valued famILLy members of our esteemed Illinois Bands program, we are thrilled to extend this heartfelt invitation for you to return to your roots and perform with us during the Illinois vs Central Michigan football game. Please join us for Homecoming 2024 with our theme “TOGETHER FOREVER.” Please read Tom’s letter in this newsletter as well as the Homecoming schedule. Hope to CU in CU September 13–14, 2024.

We continue to march for dear old Illini and hope you will join us for any and all events this season. Our ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE continues to spill over with a remarkable season and year upon us. Take care, stay well, and GO ILLINI!

With True Illini Spirit!

Barry L. Houser Director of Marching Illini Associate Director of Bands Chair, Conducting Area

2024 DRUM MAJORS ATHLETIC BANDS

REVIEW

The 2023–2024 school year was an exciting one for Illinois Athletic Bands. Marching Illini Band #155 kicked off their season with performances to welcome everyone to campus and start the new year!

There is always a lot of excitement as the football season begins, but this year the first home game was made extra special as we welcomed the University of Toledo Rocket Marching Band and their director, UI alum Tiger Rhodes, to campus. The same weekend the Volleyball Band was hitting the court at Huff Hall, performing at eleven home matches throughout the season.

After a decade-long hiatus, a huge highlight of the season was the return of Marching Illini Live in Concert in the State Farm Center. Over 2,000 tickets were sold for the performance on October 8. The MI performed all traditional gameday music, 2023 halftime show music, and other fan favorites. We look forward to hosting this performance again on Sunday, October 20, 2024.

The MI hosted IMBC on October 14, Homecoming events the weekend of October 21, and traveled to Washington Community High School to perform on Tuesday, October 24. The month of October also brought the start of basketball season.

The Hoops Band had an overwhelming turnout of talented musicians to auditions and provided a full band of approximately seventy performers for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Illinois Hoops Band began rehearsals in mid-September and joined the team in State Farm Center for the first time for an exhibition game on October 20.

During the spring semester, Hoops Band performed at home basketball games and accompanied the teams to their respective Big Ten Tournament games in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the men’s team winning the entire tournament. The men’s band had the privilege of traveling to Omaha, Nebraska and Boston, Massachusetts to cheer the team to their first appearance in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen since 2005. The women’s band welcomed fans to State Farm Center as we hosted the first two rounds of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament. After winning at home to open the tournament, the women’s band traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma and Indianapolis, Indiana and celebrate our team winning the entire tournament!

The Athletic Bands ended the 2023–2024 school year and began looking toward the 2024–2025 season by performing at the Illinois Spring Game on Saturday, April 20. We look forward to seeing you at our 2024–2025 Athletic Bands performances. For more information, please visit https://www.marchingillini.com/calendar-events/eventcalendar.

MATTHEW FELBEIN

Matthew attended Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois where he was a member of the Marching Redhawks for four years, serving as drum major for two years. He is a senior studying choral music education and has been a member of the Marching Illini since his freshman year when he was in the mellophone section! This fall is his third season serving as drum major. Outside of band, he is a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi, the national honorary band fraternity, and music director for Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the men’s music fraternity. In the spring, Matthew will complete his student teaching back in the Chicago suburbs.

ALEX HALL

Alex attended Metea Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois where he was a member of the Marching Mustangs for three years, serving as clarinet section leader for one year. He is a senior double majoring in economics and philosophy. Alex has been a member of the Marching Illini since his freshman year, where he marched in the clarinet section for two years. This fall will be his second season serving as drum major.

POORNA KUMAR

Poorna attended Metea Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois where she marched trombone in the Marching Mustangs for three years and served as drum major for one year. She is a senior pursuing a dual degree in community health and trombone performance. Poorna has been a member of the Marching Illini since her freshman year, marching in the trombone section for one year. This fall will be her third season serving as drum major of the Marching Illini. She is a brother of the Kappa Kappa Psi Nu Xi chapter. Poorna also serves as a Health Communications Intern at the University of Illinois.