| The University of Pennsylvania Band | |
|---|---|
 Performing in 2024 | |
| School | University of Pennsylvania |
| Location | Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Conference | Ivy League |
| Founded | 1897 |
| Director | R. Greer Cheeseman III |
| Members | 107 |
| Fight song | "The Red and Blue," "Fight On, Pennsylvania!," "Cheer Pennsylvania!," "Drink a Highball" |
| Website | The Penn Band |
TheUniversity of Pennsylvania Band (commonly known as thePenn Band, or its vaudeville-esque performance nameThe Huge, the Enormous, the Well-Endowed, Undefeated, Ivy-League Champion, University of Pennsylvania Oxymoronic Fighting Quaker Marching Band) is among the most active collegiate band programs in the U.S.[1] The organization is a part of Student Life and the Department of Athletics at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, a privateIvy League school inPhiladelphia.
Like most of the other near-60 performing arts groups on the Penn Campus, it has no affiliation with any academic department. Typically ranging between 80 and 120 members every year, it is among the largest and most active student-run organizations on campus, assembling up to ~100 times between August and May. Like most of the Ivy League bands, the Penn Band is ascramble band.[2]
Founded in 1897, the Penn Band stands among the oldest college bands in the country. In 1901, it also became one of the nation's first traveling bands.[1] According to popular legend, the band began after a single cornet player named A. Felix DuPont played to the jeers of residents in the student quadrangle ("Shut up, fresh!"). A more understanding upperclassman, John Ammon, helped DuPont gather 27 volunteers who formed the school's first band.
Its history is marked with a sustained record of performance and achievement. In its first year, the Band performed twice for PresidentWilliam McKinley, as well as at the opening ofHouston Hall, the country's first student union. The organization later became an integral part of Penn sporting events—one of the first college bands to play regularly at sporting events. It has been a staple at historicFranklin Field and thePalestra, campus traditions such as Convocation, ‘Hey Day,’ and Commencement ceremonies, and performances across The Greater Philadelphia Region.
Appearances during the 20th century include countless NCAA tournament games (including TheNCAA Final Four in 1979), theMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of the first collegiate marching bands to ever march in the parade, the1964 New York World's Fair, and theMiss America Pageant Parade on more than one occasion.
During its history, the organization has performed with notable musicians, includingJohn Philip Sousa,Edwin Franko Goldman, members of thePhiladelphia Orchestra, theU.S. Marine Band ("The President's Own"),Doc Severinsen ofThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and the prominent composerVáclav Nelhýbel. The band's performances also include national broadcasts and numerous recordings, beginning in the late 1920s and 1930s with theVictor Talking Machine Company (RCA-Victor Company) and nationally broadcast performances on WABC. In popular culture,Chuck Barris of Gong Show fame performed with the Band in 1977, and the Band opened for theMaury Povich Show in 1980.
The group has performed at the pleasure of many dignitaries and celebrities over its history in the context of celebrations on-campus and inPhiladelphia. This list includes GovernorEd Rendell, Vice PresidentAl Gore,Grace Kelly, PresidentRonald Reagan,Bill Cosby,Lech Wałęsa, PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, PresidentLyndon B. Johnson,Peter Lynch,Dolly Parton,Dan Aykroyd,Chris Matthews, andRudy Giuliani.
By the late 1960s, along with most of the other Ivy League bands, the Penn Band became a scramble band. It had already began moving away from the traditional corps style in the 1960s. Its trademark football uniform of the past ~45 years, the large P sweater, is an inadvertent nod to the past — it is a near-exact copy of the uniform worn by the freshman band in the early 1930s.
The first hundred years of the organization's history was detailed in a book,Images of America:The University of Pennsylvania Band, published in 2006 byArcadia Publishing.
The Penn Band performs at campus events and traditions, all Football games, and nearly all Men's and Women's Basketball games. The group also tours along the East Coast. The group's appearances include NCAA tournament games since the 1970s,ESPN Game Day Live,MSNBC Hardball, and theFox and Friends Morning Show. In 2007, the band had the opportunity to perform with rock drummerSimon Kirke on the Penn campus. In December 2008, the Band appeared on a nationally televised sports special onCBS Sports, and in April 2008, the Band performed forBill Clinton andHillary Clinton at an election rally on the Penn campus.
The Penn Band included a color guard section between 2007 and 2010, which played alongside band members.[3] After a decade without an official color guard, the section was reintroduced in January 2010.[3] TheCornell Big Red Marching Band is the only otherIvy League university to have an official color guard.[3]
