Marching Band has fun while 'Treking' along

Lauren Viera

It was nothing like the Super Bowl half-time show. Heck, it wasn't even a Division I college sports game. But Oberlin's Winter Term Marching Band played their instruments with Obie pride Wednesday afternoon to a pumped audience at the men's basketball game against Allegheny College.

True, the Conservatory is traditionally Western- and jazz-oriented, but for some students, marching is in the blood.

"I was in the marching band in high school for four years," said the group's coordinator and organizer, college sophomore Alison Gent. "I was addicted to it."

After failed attempts at organizing an active band last year, Gent began publicizing for the 1998 Winter Term Marching Band in early December distributing posters throughout campus. "You would not believe how many people showed up," she said, enthusiastic about the response. Twenty-five students - college and conservatory - showed up to the first meeting, and 17 stuck with the band to perform at Wednesday's basketball game and preliminary performance at Finney Chapel.

After tossing around different ideas at the first meetings, the collective group decided on two "Star Trek" compositions, leading off with the TV theme song and closing with Dennis McCarthy's "Generations," a piece from the first Star Trek: The Next Generation movie. In between, the group played Henry Mancini's "It Had Better Be Tonight" from The Pink Panther and the theme from "Mission: Impossible," after which some rather fancy choreography and action takes place, as Gent described: "We all get 'shot' by the color guard and then the clarinets come up with 'Por Una Cabeza,' that tango from The Scent of a Woman."

The "gunfire" Gent speaks of is portrayed by the rapid-fire drum rolls on top of Oberlin dorm recycling cans, a nice touch for the informal set. The marching band definitely has a sense of humor. The tango is interrupted by insistent low brass members who start playing "Peter Gunn," but then the whole group comes together once again for the final "Generations" piece. "We just have a lot of fun," Gent said.

Despite rumors of strict conservatory students turning down the informal marching band, Gent remarked that many students used the Winter Term group to explore their lesser-studied talents. College first-year organist Bradley Fitch played the trumpet, and college string players, sophomore Ruth Hook and first-year Jane Lycan, turned percussionists for the month. Hook said she was thankful that the band director, double-degree fifth year Tony Estrada, was fair in writing parts that weren't too challenging.

"It was sort of interesting playing recycling buckets," Hook said. "There was a big drum solo in 'Mission Impossible,' but by the time we were actually performing, I wasn't nervous."

"I had a great time," Lycan said. "I had actually never played any marching band instruments before, so it was a really new experience, but I liked it a lot."

The group practiced in the gym for four hours daily last month, with very few choreography and music sessions missed, even at 9 a.m. The Winter Term Marching Band took their work seriously, but had fun while doing it. Though they seemed a little tense during Wednesday's game, once the audience recognized the "Star Trek" theme and roared the group along, the band members held their horns with pride and stepped in time wearing jeans and black T-shirts.

Due to the success of the winter term project, the band members are organizing an ExCo class to recruit a larger group of marchers. However, Gent stressed that no color guard would be appointed: all in the band are to participate and be treated equally. "We're trying to make it a big group thing so everyone is involved with everything instead of just one leader," she said. "We aren't regimented or military or anything."