Timothy Chapman
03/27/2023
This upcoming fall semester, a new marching band program will be coming to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
UTRGV is looking for students both future and current interested in performing at football games, holiday parades, and campus events in Brownsville and Edinburg as part of the marching band. According to link.utrgv.edu/marchingband.
Director of Bands for UTRGV Saul Torres said there are many pieces that are coming together to create the marching band.
“We’re in the process right now of hiring an additional band director to help, technically this band director will be the director of athletic bands so he’ll be in charge of the marching band so we’re in the process of doing that. So through the purchase of instruments, to the design of the uniform it’s a monumental task,” Torres said.
Torres said the audition process is not going to be tedious, students do not need to be a music major in order to try out for the marching band.
“You don’t have to be a Virtuoso in your instrument, but you have to be able to be comfortable enough playing. The audition process is more to gauge how each individual plays and what part we would give them within their section,” Torres said.
Director of the school of music Kurt Martinez listed the first events where the marching band will be performing.
“The first performance will be in the holiday parade in McAllen in December. And then in the spring in Charro Days in Brownsville. And also in addition to that the marching band during the fall semester will be going around to exhibit in different UIL competitions that are held locally in the region,” Martinez said.
The amount of students that have shown interest in the marching band has greatly exceeded Martinez’s expectations.
“The interest form, it just went live maybe a week ago and in one day we already had like 200 – 300 emails and it just keeps going and going and going. So there’s a lot of interest,” Martinez said.
The deadline to join the UTRGV marching band for the Fall 2023 semester is on August 28.
To learn more about the new UTRGV marching band and what the requirements are to join. You can visit their website link.utrgv.edu/marchingband
