SUMBio: Sam Baldwin

Hi everyone!

I’m Sam Baldwin, and I’m a first-year graduate assistant for the SUMB this season. This will actually be my fifth season with the SUMB; I just graduated from SU in May with a bachelor’s degree in music education, and I am currently pursuing my master’s at SU in both music education and instrumental conducting. From 2008-2010, I was a member of the flute section; in 2008 I was a rookie, in 2009 I was a section leader, and in 2010 I was the music instructor. Last season, in 2011, I had the incredible experience of being one of the drum majors of the SUMB, and it was an opportunity I will always remember.

Over the past four years in the SUMB, I have made memories and formed friendships that will last me a lifetime. Everyone in the band talks about the family-like atmosphere of the SUMB, and it really is true. When I first came to SU as a rookie, I was extremely nervous about leaving my tight-knit family and starting something brand new. It was my first time away from home, I had never been in marching band before, I didn’t know a single person, and I was pretty shy. Within the first few hours of being with the SUMB, I realized that I had absolutely nothing to worry about. The welcoming feeling I experienced from the staff, leadership, and members of the band is something I will never forget and have always tried my hardest to reciprocate when meeting new members of the band each season.

I have shared some great experiences with my colleagues while in the SUMB. My freshman year, in 2008, we travelled to Toronto to play a halftime show for a Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins game. In 2010, we marched at the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium. Last season, in 2011, the SUMB Leadership and Drumline had the opportunity to perform at the Heisman Trophy Gala in NYC. Yet of all my experiences with the SUMB, I would have to say that my favorite one is something we do at every game: run-on. The anticipation and anxiety that build while waiting in the tunnel, hearing tens of thousands of people cheer as the band takes the turf, the sense of camaraderie and pride as everyone works together to make our grand entrance – these are all emotions that could never get old.

One specific memory of the SUMB that will always stick with me comes from last season. Before one of the quad shows, an elderly gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was one of the drum majors. He told me that he was a drum major of the SUMB over 50 years ago. With tears in his eyes, he said to me, “No matter how old you are, you will never forget how much you love this band.”

I’m really looking forward to another great season with the SUMB. I can’t wait to be back with the returning members again, and I’m excited to get to know all of the rookies!

Go Orange!!!

SUMBio: John Hylkema

Greetings SUMB,

As many of you know, I am one of your Graduate Assistants for the 2012-2013 season. I am originally from Washington, New Jersey, which is located about 45 minutes west of New York City. This past May, I graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelors degree in music education, and will begin working towards my masters degrees in music education and instrumental conducting this fall.

As a 4-year veteran of the SUMB, I have had the opportunity so serve the band first as a trumpet section leader and then as drum major. I remember seeing the band for the first time back in 2006 when I came up to visit a friend from high school who had just started his freshman year. The quality of sound and musicality of the ensemble blew me away, and I made up my mind that day, as a high school junior, that I would be attending Syracuse University.

Aside from the SUMB, I have been a member of the SU Wind ensemble, Symphony band, Concert band, Trumpet ensemble, and Brass quintet, and I was the conductor of First Year Players’ spring musical. I am also a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, SU’s all-male music fraternity.

During my 4 years in the SUMB, I have met some of my best friends and have made so many memories. Some of the memories include: doing Run-on for the very first time, our trip to Canada during freshman year where we played at halftime for a Buffalo Bills/ Miami Dolphins clash, doing the “Thriller” and “Single Ladies” dances during two of our halftime shows, performing at the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium, leading the band onto the field for the first time as a Drum Major, conducting the band at the Heisman Memorial Trophy Gala in New York City, the first ever SUMFlash mob in the middle of Times Square, and conducting the Alma Mater for the last time at a football game in the Dome.

I look forward to making more musical memories with you all during this next season and I hope that you leave the SUMB with great memories of your four years as well.

John

SUMBio: Connorlynn Gaffney

Name: Connorlynn Gaffney

Major: Environmental Studies at SUNY-ESF

Hometown: Camillus, New York

Instrument: Colorguard

Favorite Color: Blue!

Favorite Fish: Queen Angelfish

Around Syracuse: I am Vice President of Service for Tau Beta Sigma, the national honorary band sorority. I also spent last winter coaching the Liverpool cadet wintergaurd. I also have two jobs at the SUNY-ESF Copy Center and Forever21 .

How did I get involved in SUMB?: I have been in one form or another of Colorguard since 6th grade. I joined parade guard, then winterguard, then finally marching band too. My life revolved around it in middle school and high school. When I started looking at colleges one of the things that I was looking for alongside my major and a comfortable campus, was a guard. I knew that if I found a guard, I would be able to make it through anything college would throw at me.

My favorite part of show days is the quad show. We are up close and personal with people while performing. We can see them clearly, and they can see us. It’s things like the little old man who stood right in front of the guard at every game last year and I’m sure the year before that and the one before that and the one before that… It’s watching my mom actually learn the guard dances and do them in the crowd of people almost knocking some out in her enthusiasm. It’s singing the Alma mater of a school I don’t even attend but feel more connection with than my own, and it’s watching the alumni standing in the cold singing along with us.

SUMBio: Jordan Campo

Greetings Orangmen and Orangewomen,

My name is Jordan Campo, and I’m a senior, native to Schenectady, NY. This will be my fourth year with the SUMB, and my second as the alto sax music instructor (huzzah!). If you’re looking for some facts about me, here are some: this summer I’m an intern for PBS, I get overly defensive when someone doesn’t think “Lost” is the greatest show of all time, and my ideal major would be Reality Television Studies with a minor in Baking Cookies.

The overall experience of being a member of the SUMB is incredibly valuable to me. I’ve made friends, seen some awesome games, and learned the “Thriller” dance, which I view as being a crucial life skill. But the most significant parts of being in the Pride come to me in small moments. Like meeting cheers from strangers as we exited Yankees Stadium in uniform after winning the Pinstripe Bowl, dancing on tables with my section at The Varsity following a particularly awesome win, or former SU coach Dick MacPherson bestowing sagely advice upon the altos before a quad show.

My all-time favorite SUMB memory occurred on the sidelines of the field where we waited for the second quarter to end and our halftime show to start. A member of the opposing team took a flying leap towards us, almost hitting me and a few other band members. As we jumped out of the way, we heard a spirited member of the student section yell, “No! Don’t you dare touch these beautiful musicians!” There may or may not have been a few expletives that I chose to leave out, but that was the general idea. It was a hilarious moment that I look back on as being one of the more ridiculous, yet memorable, experiences I’ve had with the Pride. I always laugh thinking about that kid trying to defend us, even if he tried to steal our plumes after.

To our rookies–we’re excited to welcome you into our weird, endearing family. To the vets – I’m looking forward to another great and memorable year with you all.

There’s nothing finer in the land,
Jordan Campo

SUMBio: Bailey Normann

Hey there!

My name is Bailey Normann, and I am a sophomore television, radio, and film student. I was born and raised in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and graduated from East Stroudsburg High School South.

To begin, I can tell you straight off that I was not a huge fan of marching band in high school. When I decided to come to SU, I was not looking forward to continuing my marching band career. However, I was finally convinced by my parents to join. Being somewhat of a homebody in high school, my parents were concerned about how I would adjust to being away from home for the first time. To be completely honest, I was also terrified about leaving home and had to agree that joining the marching band would be a good way for me to adjust more smoothly to college life. This could not have been any more of an understatement.

On the first day of band camp, I immediately sensed a feeling of community and family among the entire SUMB and already felt like I belonged to it. Getting to know my section and forming unbelievably strong bonds with other rookies was what defined my first semester of college. I amazed both myself and my parents with how well and how quickly I adjusted to the college life style and can say with complete honesty that it was one of the happiest times of my life. Although I have only been a member for one season, I know that the friendships I am making now will definitely be lifelong.

However, marching band not only made my first semester of college worthwhile, it also greatly influenced who I was after the season ended. During the second semester I joined Sour Sitrus Society, the University’s pep band, for the basketball season. It was such an amazing experience, especially getting courtside seats for free! We had an incredible basketball season last year and I was unbelievably lucky to have gotten this experience as a freshman. I even traveled to the Women’s Big East Tournament in Hartford, Connecticut! Something I also experienced my second semester was going through the membership process for becoming a sister of Tau Beta Sigma, the national honorary band sorority. I knew right when I started marching band that I wanted to be able to serve the bands further and help promote the band on campus. With my sisters of Tau Beta Sigma and the brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi, I have found some of my greatest friends, and we work together to make the SUMB truly the “Pride of the Orange.”

Although I have only been through one season as a member of the SUMB, you can see how much it has already positively influenced my life. As a sophomore, I am extremely excited to return for my second season not only as a Vet, but also as a section leader. So, if you are even remotely hesitant about becoming a member of the SUMB, I can say with total clarity and experience that you will never regret joining. And although it’s cliché, joining the SUMB was the most important and influential decision I made my freshman year.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in August!

Bailey
(Mellophone)

Welcome to College

Justin Mathews, from Corning, NY, is a senior Policy Studies major with a minor in Management Studies. He is a Section Leader in the Baritone section.

My band director in high school would like to think I made the transition to college long before I ever set foot in a dorm, tasted my first bite of dining hall food, or endured one of the many icebreakers I would later become far too accustomed to. It was common for him to proclaim, “Welcome to college!” anytime someone found his grading policies unfair or his rehearsal schedules too rigorous.

In actuality, when my time at Syracuse finally began, I found college wasn’t exactly the nightmare my band director’s rhetoric had prepared me for. In fact, my first impression of college life was quite enjoyable. Three years later, I still attribute my easy transition into college to my involvement in the SUMB.
Despite the hundreds of pages of SU literature that had arrived in my mailbox all summer, college was, for the most part, still a mystery when I first moved in. As a result, I was excited, anxious, and scared all at the same time for what I would experience. When I first walked through the intimidating concrete concourse of the Carrier Dome to check in for Band Camp, I thought of my time as a freshman in high school. For that reason, I expected my first few encounters to be either 1) treated as strictly business, or 2) severely discredited for the fact that I was just a freshman (aka rookie, amateur, etc.).

Lucky for me, this wasn’t the case. The first person I met turned out to be one of the most influential people in my transition to college life. As soon as he approached me, he held out his hand and said, “Justin? I’m Kevin, your baritone section leader. It’s nice to meet you.” While it was clear that he could only have recognized me from my Facebook picture, his cheerfulness and sincerity set the tone for the rest of the week. From that point on, everyone I met was friendly and helpful.

By the time I began carrying my belongings into my dorm, the sophomore clarinet player that volunteered to help me had already shared with me the knowledge of a campus insider. She taught me how to use the Dome’s air-lock doors, warned me of the wind tunnels that form in the hallways of Lawrinson Hall, and informed me of Irene, the extremely friendly card swiper at Sadler Dining Hall.

For me, there couldn’t have been a better way to meet new friends than Band Camp. The many hours I spent working closely with a group of people that shared similar interests and a common goal proved to be an ideal environment for making friends.

When Opening Weekend finally arrived, I found that being in the SUMB had placed me at an advantage over other freshmen. In addition to having avoided endless lines of cars and unbearable waits for the elevator, I had made friends and acquired a familiarity with campus of someone who had been living there for months. Just the same, I was already involved in something that I was proud to be part of – a feat that took other freshmen weeks, months, and even years to accomplish.

Looking back on three years at Syracuse, the benefits of my involvement in the SUMB have lasted much longer than that first week on campus. Since then, the SUMB is where I’ve met my best friends and made some of my fondest memories.  We performed at a Buffalo Bills game in Toronto, received multiple standing ovations for our performance of a Michael Jackson Tribute show, earned the “game ball” following the football team’s defeat of Maine, and much more.

Year after year, I’ve made the decision to return to the SUMB for many reasons. The biggest of these are the excellent performances that make rehearsals worthwhile, the camaraderie that fosters enjoyable personal and working relationships, and the strong traditions that make the SUMB an experience unlike any other.

That said, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to anyone who has just made the decision to join the SUMB and assure you that you will find your time in our family both fun and fulfilling.