8th- and 7th-grade band clinic

On Monday, February 25 the 7th- and 8th-grade bands traveled to the McFarland High School Auditorium to participate in a clinic with Verona's 8th-grade band and Mc Farland's 7th- and 8th-grade bands.

The 8th-grade band arrived first and was the first group to perform. We played two of the songs that we are working on for the Veteran's Concert, "Sons of Liberty" and "To Honor, Thank, and Remember."

After we performed our pieces, Professor Terri Dobbs from UW-Madison worked with the 8th-graders on "Sons of Liberty."

After the 8th-grade band performed, we listened to Verona's 8th-grade band.

The 7th-grade band performed next, and played "Chorale Elegant," "Kinetic Energy," and "Forward March."

6th-grade Music performance for 5th-graders

On February 20 some 6th-grade band, choir, and orchestra members performed for the 5th-grade students at both Cottage Grove School and Nichols School. We first went to Cottage Grove School and performed in the LGI.

The orchestra performed first, and played selections from Harry Potter. Ms. McCarty talked about the 6th-grade orchestra experience.

The band perfomed next. We played Star Wars all together, and then each instrument group performed by themselves so that the 5th-grade students could hear the distinctive sounds of each instrument. Mrs. Stone encouraged 5th-grade students to choose their favorite band instruments by how they sound. Then the 5th-graders wrote their top three instrument selections on the instrument selection card. Mrs. Stone will use their choices when she goes out to talk with students individually to try mouthpieces and select instruments.

The choir performed third, and Ms. Graves talked about the 6th-grade choir experience when they were done.

After lunch we traveled down the road to Nichols School and performend for the 5th-graders in the Cafeteria.

The Great PIG Race

THE GREAT PIG RACE

Students who sold 20 or more items in the music fundraiser were eligible to participate in the pig race.
Mr. Heineke of Geckler fundraising brought his stable of pigs and the racetrack to Winnequah for the event. There were 6 different heats, with a winner in each. Then these winners raced in 2 semi-final races and then the top two pigs raced one last time.

UW Band at the Outback Bowl - Jan. 1

Tuesday, January 1 - Outback Bowl Game

We got up early today and left for the stadium by 7:30 am. Before we went into the stadium we played Pep Rallies for two groups of Badger Fans. Here are two photos of the band playing at the first one.

The second Pep Rally was more crowded, and there wasn't much room between the band and the fans.

In fact, the band was surrounded by fans.

We marched in our usual Pregame formation into the staduim.

Once we arrived, we had time to find our seats before Pregame. This is a picture of Mr. Stone and me in front of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer pirate ship in the stadium.

Because Wisconsin was the home team, the Tennessee Band performed first at both Pregame and Halftime.

This is Rachel, drum major of the Wisconsin Band starting the band onto the field for our Halftime show.

At Halftime, the Wisconisn Band performed a medley of songs from"West Side Story". This is the last formation of the halftime show looking from my ladder across the field to the home side of the stadium.

In this picture the UW Band is playing in the stands. Our seats overlooked one of the end zones.

Although it was a close game, the Badgers lost. However, EVERY Badger football game ends with the 5th-Quarter, and this game was no exception. For me, the 5th-Quarter is a time to enjoy being at the game, win or lose. My attitude probably stems from the fact that when I marched in the band in the late 1980's, our football team lost a lot. Back then, sometimes all we had to enjoy were our Pregame and Halftime performances and the 5th-Quarter. It's also really cool that Wisconsin fans stay to celebrate with the band after every game. Here, Mike Leckrone is leading band and the fans in one of our many traditional 5th-Quarter songs.

Badger fans stayed to dance and enjoy being in the warm weather in Florida.

At the end of the 5th-Quarter we formed up again and marched out of the stadium.
The trumpet player on the left in the front row is Doug Cowgill, a graduate of Monona Grove.

We went back to the hotel for showers and then bused to the airport to fly home. I took one last picture of the sun setting over the beach in front of our hotel. (When we arrived home, it was 5 degrees!)

UW Band at the Outback Bowl - Dec. 31

Monday, December 31

The band began the day with our LAST practice of 2007.

We next traveled to Busch Gardens for some free time to enjoy the park. I hung out with many of the other Field Assistants. We took a train around the park and saw lots of interesting animals, including my favorite - the rhinos!

We also walked around the park and saw the Clydesdale horses.

After enjoying our time at Busch Gardens we departed for today's performance, a parade through Ybor City and a Pep Rally at the end of the parade.

We played "On Wisconsin", "If You Want To Be A Badger", and "You've Said It All" on the parade route. There were lots of fans lining the streets and it was really exciting to be a part of the parade. At the end of the parade the band lined up to play another Pep Rally.

Director Mike Leckrone started the UW Band off with "On Wisconsin".

We alternated playing songs with the Tennessee Band. Their band was lead by their drum major. You can also see their baton twirlers in this photo.

After the Tennessee Band played, it was our turn again.

After going back and forth a few times, the Wisconsin Band ended with Mike Leckrone's version of the "1812 Overture".

We arrived back at the hotel around 9:00pm, ate dinner, and then the band cleaned their instruments so that they would look good at the bowl game.

We celebrated the New Year and then soon went to bed because we had to get up early the next day for the Outback Bowl.

UW Band at the Outback Bowl - Dec. 30

Sunday, December 30

Today our trip got a lot busier!

We started the day with another practice at Clearwater Beach High School.

After practice we went back to our hotel, ate lunch, and prepared for our first performance at the Outback Bowl Beach Day.

The band marched into the stage area through the sand...

and lined up in front of the stage.

We performed a lot of 5th-Quarter favorites, including "Space Badger". During this song, the cheerleaders throw each other high in the air, and I like this photo because you can see one of them "flying" above the band.

From the stage, you can see the crowd, and there were lots of Badger fans at the beach.

You can also see some Tennessee fans wearing orange. The Tennessee Marching Band performed after we were done.

We still had one more performance left today though, and next we went to the Channel Side Pep Rally. We played for about 45 minutes, and this photo shows the band playing "Swingtown", a crowd favorite.

The UW clarinet section plays on white plastic clarinets instead of the standard black ones.

After the Pep Rally, the band took a three-hour dinner cruise on the Yacht Starship, which took us around the Tampa Bay area. It was pretty cool to see the city lights reflected on the water at night.

UW Band at the Outback Bowl - Dec. 29

Saturday, December 29

The UW Marching Band gathered early this morning (6:15 am) at the McClain Center down on the UW campus to bus to the Dane County Regional Airport. We arrived in Tampa early in the afternoon, to sunny skies and warm temperatures!

Our first activity was practice, and we bused to Clearwater Beach High School where we ran through both the Pregame and Halftime shows.

After practice we went to our hotel and had free time for the rest of the evening.