Cornhusker Marching Band Highlights concert is Dec. 3
calendar icon20 Nov 2024
Lincoln, Neb.--It’s showtime as the Cornhusker Marching Band Highlights concert returns to the Lied Center for Performing Arts for their annual Season Highlights Concert on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Come experience the sights and sounds of The Pride of All Nebraska.
“The concert features all seven halftime shows from the 2024 season, along with our Pregame Spectacular,” said Tony Falcone, senior lecturer, associate director of bands and director of the Cornhusker Marching Band. “You’ll hear the sounds of our talented musicians and witness the visual artistry of our Color Guard and Twirlers.”
Falcone said the band has had a great season.
“We powered through the opening volley of five games in six weeks and have settled into a groove since then,” he said.
Drum major Annie von Kampen, a senior music education major from North Platte, Nebraska, said it was a good season for the marching band.
“This was a very fast-paced and successful season for the Cornhusker Marching Band,” she said. “Every member was truly on their A-game as we started off fast and furious with four home games in a row. All of our hard work paid off in really well-performed shows. The Colorado game was a big highlight for me. The whole stadium was just electric, and the band could feel the immense energy from the moment we stepped out on the field for our pregame show through the very end of the game.”
Von Kampen said the Highlights concert is must-see.
“It’s a really great way for us to show off our high level of musicianship, especially for those who are not always able to hear every little detail over the ambient stadium noise while watching us perform this music during halftime each game,” she said. “Everyone who comes to the show should also show up and get seated early to hear the fun little ditties that each section prepares and performs as the ‘show-before-the-show.’”
Von Kampen said the experience of performing and leading the Cornhusker Marching Band will stick with her forever.
“Throughout my career in the band, I’ve learned so much from every director and student involved, which has contributed to the growth in leadership, confidence, dedication, passion and empathy I’ve experienced,” she said. “I truly feel like I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than myself, and I’m incredibly grateful for every moment.”
This year’s 300-member band included representatives from nearly every region of the country, though 77 percent of the students are from Nebraska. Twenty-four percent of the students had majors in the Glenn Korff School of Music. The rest are studying in 70-plus other degree programs across campus.
Drum majors this year were junior Vilynn Decker of Stapelhurst, junior Tanner Maas of Gretna, senior Jason Manzitto of Lincoln and senior Annie von Kampen of North Platte.
Tickets for the Highlights concert are $20 adults and $10 students/seniors and can be purchased in advance through the Lied Center for Performing Arts Box Office at (402) 472-4747 or online at https://go.unl.edu/cmbhighlights.
Falcone is associate director of bands in the Glenn Korff School of Music and is the director of the Cornhusker Marching Band. Doug Bush is the assistant director of bands and assistant marching band director. Carolyn Barber, the Ron and Carol Cope Professor of Music, is director of bands. Other band staff members include graduate teaching assistants Foteini Angeli, Eric Elker and Andrea Mack. Jacob Wrobel is the percussion instructor, and Samantha Houston Brown is the color guard instructor. Rose Johnson is the administrative technician, Jan Deaton is the office associate, and Nolan Schmit is the “voice” of the band.
The Cornhusker Marching Band, which resides in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Glenn Korff School of Music, was founded in 1879 as an ROTC unit and is one of the oldest marching bands in the nation. The band has received many honors throughout its history, including a Distinguished Recognition Trophy presented by John Philip Sousa in 1927 and the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Trophy in 1996. The Sudler Trophy is the highest honor given to collegiate bands.
For a full listing of this year’s band members, visit https://go.unl.edu/band2024.