Angela Salinas / The Collegian
Even the rain could not stop the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band from giving an energized performance at Friday night’s Band Spectacular.
The Music Department holds this yearly event with performances from the Wind Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra and Bulldog Marching Band.
“Despite the rain, we had a very good turn out for all three of the concerts,” Ryan Dirlam, marching band president, said. “We cut our program down a little so that people could get out of the rain sooner, but we sounded great and everyone had a great time out there.”
Band Spectacular is unique for the marching band because it is their only concert performance of the year.
After the Wind Orchestra and Jazz Orchestra performed in the Music Building’s concert hall, the audience was directed to the steps of the Joyal Administration Building where the marching band was set up for their segment of the concert.
Although it was raining during the marching band’s performance, most of the audience stayed until the end.
The audience’s commitment to staying through the duration of the concert mirrored the commitment marching band students have to band.
“Marching band is a 1-unit class and we have five eight-hour days for band camp, four two-hour rehearsals a week, seven ten-hour game days, one 12-hour away game, two three-hour parades and one 16-hour competition day,” Dirlam said. “It adds up to around 152 hours of musical commitment from the average marching band member.”
The band has student leadership in the form of student conductors, known as drum majors, and a student band council that is nominated by fellow band members and selected by the band director, Tim Anderson.
“With a band as large as ours, it is crucial that we have a strong student leadership to help keep things running smoothly and make Dr. Anderson’s job easier,” Marco Mellone, head drum major, said.
Band members who dedicate such large amounts of time to marching band describe it as a family unit.
“We are one giant family and can create amazing things when we all put our efforts together,” Mellone said. “We are the ambassadors for the music department and the image we put out will be the one that the public will have of the department as a whole.”