Student writer Myranda New showcases the Sound of the Golden Hurricane.
There are many exciting parts of a football game: when a player makes a 50 yard run down the field uninterrupted, when a referee finally makes a good call and when you can spend dining dollars on cheap hot dogs at the concession stands. One of the best parts of the University of Tulsa’s football games, though, is halftime. No, it isn’t because we finally get a break, and it isn’t because this is when I go to buy a University of Tulsa t-shirt to add to my never ending wardrobe. It’s because I absolutely love the Sound of the Golden Hurricane, our marching band.
I’m sure you’ve heard me screaming for the marching band from the student section like a middle-aged dad would at the football team, but that’s because I truly love our band, and I am so proud of them. The work they put in to entertain us is immense, on top of being students and handling their majors.
Andrew Anderson is the director of our marching band, and has been at TU for nine years. His passion for the band is obvious.
“That such a diverse group of people can come together and make great music as a cohesive unit is my favorite part of directing the bands!” Anderson says. The majority of our band is made up of non-music majors, anywhere from engineers and computer scientists to business majors. Our band is full of people who do it simply out of their love for the sound.
Julia Behlmann is a piccolo and flute player for our marching band. “The Sound of the Golden Hurricane is composed of students who chose to march and fit the hours of rehearsal into their schedules,” Behlmann says. Her favorite part of being in the band is being with others who share her immense love for music.
The marching band meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., making it six hours of rehearsal a week, not including the extra hours that are put in on game days. The band meets hours before the stadium begins to flood with fans, prepping any last parts of their performance. Anderson, however, is very understanding of the scheduling conflicts his players may have, and he works around everyone’s schedule so they can fit in their major-related activities with the band.
“The biggest challenge we face is one of scheduling,” Anderson says. It can be hard with classes overlapping with rehearsal, especially for rehearsals requiring such a large number of people, but Anderson goes on to say, “I find that as long as I keep expectations for the group reasonable, we’re able to work around that issue.”
Sam Harrell, drumline section leader, agrees with this sentiment. “Just staying focused and engaged and motivated for a whole season can be pretty tough at times. Especially when you have all your other classes to deal with,” Harrell says, “but the actual physical act of playing music is just so relieving and revitalizing for me.”
I have friends in every aspect of the football game, from the marching band to the spirit squad, and I must say it’s very eye opening and gives the game a whole new meaning when you comprehend the amount of work these students put into the game every week.
“I wish people knew that marching band takes a lot of time and effort,” Behlmann says. “We memorize a new show every home game with new drills and new music!”
Anderson echoes this idea. “I wish people knew how much individual effort goes into each person’s responsibility within a performance during a game day,” he says. “At any one time, every person on the field is responsible for knowing their music by memory, as well as knowing where on the field they should be, where they’re going next and when in the music that next move occurs.”
It sounds like a lot to handle, but as you can see from every performance of our marching band, they pull it off flawlessly, moving effortlessly and coming together with such a beautiful and cohesive sound. From performing in the stands during the game to sprinting onto the field, the marching band never fails to hype up a crowd and get the fans excited for our team.
“The expectations for the group are that of excellence and professionalism at all times, and the students do a great job living up to those expectations!” Anderson says.
So next time the buzzer sounds for halftime and a large portion of the fans vacate the stands for a break, choose to stick around and watch our incredible marching band bring forth the Sound of the Golden Hurricane.
