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Editor:
Writing both as a parent of a UA band member and as a UA faculty member, I want to express my amazement at the ignorance revealed in George Hall's letter of Sept. 27 disparaging the current Pride of Arizona Marching Band. Mr. Hall's language is not only much too extreme ("Absolute abomination?" "Toilet Bowl?"); it is based on out-of-date standards of judgment. Mr. Hall says he marched in the Pride in the '60s and early '70s and clearly wants the band to maintain the style of performance he knew then. Can't even marching bands come into the '90s while also preserving some tradition? From what I've seen, that is exactly what the Pride of Arizona, under director Jay Rees is doing right now - and doing well.
The halftime show the Pride performed at the first two '96 home games is a good case in point. It brought in music not traditionally performed by marching bands in the past, music very much a part of our rich cultural diversity in Tucson, and that music was played sharply and dynamically in moving formations done in fluid and oblong shapes, rather than the squares and arrowheads of an older style.
I have observed marching bands, college and high school, for some time now (given the long involvement of my two daughters in both), and I have seen this newer style grow steadily in use and popularity. The strongest influence in these directions come from the semi-professional groups that compete in the Drum Corps International shows that combine high school and college students in bands and drill teams. What the Pride is doing now is influenced by the current trends in the "Corps," and by those standards, the Pride is doing its work very effectively indeed.
Then, too, the quality of a university band program should be judged on more than just trends of performance style. It should be judged on how good an educational experience it is for undergraduates and how much campus community spirit it inspires and brings together.
By these standards, and especially in 1996, I find that Mr. Rees, his staff, and all the members of the Pride (including the musicians, drum majors, flags, dancers, and twirlers) are doing an exceptional and entertaining job. I am proud to have a talented member of my family in the Pride of Arizona and equally proud to be a faculty member at a university which has such a high-quality student band. This group is of TODAY, not yesterday, and we should all support it enthusiastically.
Jerrold E. Hogle
Professor of English
University Distinguished Professor
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