UNCP band marches into the 21st century

By Lawren Shepard
Entertainment Editor

This semester, the winter graduates (and the ants) won’t be the only ones to march across the Givens Performing Arts Center stage. The music department and a number of UNCP music students are working to bring the traditional marching band into the 21st century by doing something highly unusual - bringing the show indoors.

This is UNCP’s first marching band, an organization that many students have long hoped to form, and a group whose flamboyant performances will no doubt bring much acclaim to the university.

Tracy Wiggins, the department’s newly-hired marching band director and percussion line instructor, plans on making history with what may be the first college marching band in the nation to perform on an indoor stage.

“As far as I know, we’re going to be the only university that does this,” Wiggins said.

The performances will be more than just a stage show, the new director added. “You might be in your seat and suddenly realize the person sitting next to you is one of the trumpet players, about to perform a solo,” Wiggins said with a laugh. “We hope to have different lighting elements, color guard solos and we’ll have better acoustics than you’d have in an outdoor setting.”

The idea comes from the popular Broadway show “Blast” which introduced this unique indoor approach to marching band.

The funding for the new UNCP band is provided by the state. Students register for the pep band music class and receive credit for it as well as enjoying the many rewards of being part of a marching band. As another added benefit, auditions were held during the first week of school for those who wished to be considered for a marching band scholarship.

According to Wiggins, the greatest challenge facing the newly formed band is scheduling issues.

“The music department schedule of classes was already set when we got the go-ahead,” he said. “Finding a time when all the students could make it to practice has been difficult.”

Wiggins earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma and his master’s degree at the University of New Mexico. He is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the HARTT School of the University of Hartford.

Wiggins hopes to keep energy and enthusiasm high and the group’s membership expanding in the coming semesters.

This dynamic new group’s premier performance will be November 12 in GPAC.

Performance schedules, pictures of the band and other information can be found on the marching band website, available at http://www.uncp.edu/music/bands/marching