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Trumpeting the Start of the Semester

August 21, 2019 School of Music

Drum Major Garrett Tatano '20 leads a drill yesterday for fellow members of the Mighty Sound of Maryland marching band.

Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band Steps Up During Early Week

Moving onto a nearly empty campus last weekend. Drum line auditions the next morning. Marching rehearsals at 9 a.m. daily: It’s no mystery why the Mighty Sound of Maryland marching band calls this “Early Week.”

The roughly 250-member ensemble is spending the long, hot last days of summer vacation on outdoor turf field, in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and behind the Reckord Armory this week to learn or refresh marching fundamentals and start memorizing the first football halftime show of the season.

The recreation field next to Xfinity Center and the outdoor football practice field have been new turf this week for the band, which worked with Maryland Athletics and University Recreation and Wellness to shift for a few days from its traditional practice site, Chapel Field. The turf fields more closely resemble the surface in Maryland Stadium.

“In terms of moving, you can feel the sliding of your feet on dirt versus a field of grass,” said Drum Major Patrizia Pelingon ‘20. “It’s not just great for us having a better texture to march on, it’s better for maintaining the facilities around the school.”

With the turf fields come stadium lights, allowing the Mighty Sound of Maryland (MSOM) to keep going after the sun has gone down—meaning practices that now can run until 10 p.m.

Read the complete story in Maryland Today

Photo: Band image by Emma Howells.