Published: August 17, 2006 12:00 am            

Pride marches on

By Althea Peterson

Transcript Staff Writer

Come rain or shine, the Pride of Oklahoma roster will be finalized today and the band will be marching the rest of the week.

Brian Britt, sixth year director of the Pride, which is the University of Oklahoma’s marching band, said nearly 350 hopefuls are auditioning this week for membership in the band. Depending on auditions and prospective members’ skills and work ethics, Britt said the band will be between 310 and 320 members.

Britt said 320 “is the maximum number we can accommodate in our seating area in the stands. What we look at there is the obvious breaking point in each section. We have target numbers for each section, so usually we have about those numbers.”

Pride “precamp” started Monday with percussion rehearsals and auditions. Other sections started Tuesday and continued preparing for a final marching audition today.

Elaine Wiseman, science education senior from Norman and one of two six-year members in the Pride, said she can relate to new members being nervous about auditions.

“I remember how frightening it was — how overwhelming it was,” Wiseman recalls.

Wiseman is now one of the section leaders judging auditions and said she tries to help put new members at ease about the process.

“You try to be as understanding as you can,” Wiseman said. “You’ve been there, you know how it feels.”

Alan Beall, a freshman from Grand Prairie, Texas, auditioning on sousaphone, said his first impressions of the group are warm.

“It’s going to be a fun season,” Beall said. “It seems like a tight-knit group. I was always in marching band in high school. Plus it’s good to be able to go to OU football games.”

Britt said crowds can expect new formations and new types of shows for the upcoming season. He noted that previous years have had weekly themes for shows, whereas this season there will be medleys from the same movies or same music groups, such as the movie “Cars” and music group Queen.

“I think the theme for this year is variety,” Britt said. “We will move around the stadium more for people in the north and south end zones.”

The Pride also has a few new faces in its leadership. Jeff Jahnke, the new assistant director, came to OU from Jenks High School after teaching there for eight years. He also has taught at Moore High School and Putnam City North, both for two years.

Jahnke, an alumnus of the Pride and former drum major, said he liked his job at Jenks, but is looking forward to teaching at his alma mater.

“(The assistant director’s office) was the office I auditioned in my freshman year, so I’m pretty excited,” Jahnke said. “I was really happy where I was, but I had always been interested in teaching at the collegiate level.”

The Pride also has a new drum major. Eric Shannon, a music education senior and five-year member of the Pride, said he will take his experiences as a mellophone section leader to lead the entire band this fall.

“It’s really enjoyable,” Shannon said. “I get to interact with all the sections, not just the mellophones. It’s nice to have that mobility.”

Shannon said the stadium crowds can expect more variety from the Pride, both on the field and in the stands during games.

“We have new stand tunes for more crowd interaction,” Shannon said. “Hopefully, it’ll appeal to a wider audience.”

Britt credits the hard work and dedication of the students for the success of the Pride, but said the band couldn’t work without the help of others.

“We really are fortunate to have a high level of support from the administration and fans,” Britt said. “That’s what makes it possible for us to do what we do.”

Althea Peterson

366-3539

apeterson@normantranscript.com

        

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