Our New Threads Have Arrived!

Weighing over a ton in total, the SUMB’s new uniforms just arrived at the Dome! Today they completed a 700-mile journey from Chicago, Illinois.

The Pride of the Orange recently finished fundraising a whopping $150,000 to cover the cost of the 300 uniforms it has purchased from DeMoulin Brothers and Co., the world’s largest manufacturer of music apparel. Last year, the band started a fundraising campaign called, “A New Look for a New Era.” It has since achieved its goal of creating a fresh look for the band in time for SU’s inaugural football season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Pride gave its old set of well-worn uniforms a great send off Sunday. At a sold out Buffalo Bills game, band members wore the 15-year-old uniforms for the last time as they performed for a crowd of about 75,000. Former SU football coach and current Bills coach, Doug Marrone, facilitated what was obviously a big performance for the band. The SUMB has an even bigger performance in store homecoming weekend when it will debut its new uniforms at SU’s first ACC home game.

The SUMB uniform consists of 100% recycled materials and is completely American-made. It features navy blue pants, a matching shako and a top that is Cuse orange with navy trim. The word, “Syracuse,” is displayed across the chest, along with a block letter “S” on the back. The uniform complements the color guard’s stunning new outfit, which is navy blue with orange and white trim.

Members of The Pride were each measured for a custom fit uniform last spring. This week, they will be able to try them on. First, 40 special patches must be sewn onto randomly selected uniforms. Each donor who contributed more than $500 to The Pride’s uniform campaign will be recognized with a uniform patch that bears his or her name. Traci Washburn, who works in the VPA Development office, and her mother, Patricia, have already started sewing the donor patches onto the uniforms. They have graciously volunteered to complete this task in less than three days so that band members can pick up their uniforms on time! *

“A New Look for a New Era”  received its first donation from the Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Foundation. Alumnus, Terry M. Skuse (’75), was responsible for the foundation’s $75,000 challenge gift. Other large donations followed from Carol and Peter Maciulewicz; Diane and Peter Lynch (’74); and Mary Cotter (’69).  More were made by SU Trustees: Louise and Howard G. Phanstiel (‘70 and ’71); Vivian and John H. Chapple (’75); and Lauren B. Cramer (’94).

The Pride is lucky to have such wonderful friends of the band program. Before the Syracuse Orange takes on Clemson University at Saturday’s homecoming game, “A New Look For a New Era” donors will join the band for a special ceremony in the Dome, where they will be honored for their amazing generosity.

Over the years, The Pride of the Orange has proved that it is the real deal, a first class marching band that’s equated with “the authentic sound of college sports.” Finally, The Pride will have the chance to look the part.

Get to Know Some SUMBeloved Veterans

Drum Major SUMBio: Meet Patrick!

Name: Patrick Garcia

Year: junior

Major: music performance

What I do in the Band: I conduct the SUMB at all performances and work with the other section leaders to create the best band we can.

Favorite thing about the SUMB: It’s the community. I can confidently tell you now that I’ve made lifelong friends in this band. It’s really awesome to just make good music and spend some time with the people I love.

What I’m looking forward to this season: I’m really looking forward to the halftime show featuring the music of Justin Timberlake. It’ll be the first show in my college experience that I’ll get to do something really current. I’ll definitely let loose a little.

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The Lowdown on Tina, Uniform Chair/ Section Leader Extraordinaire

Hey there, Orangeladies and Orangemen!

My name is Tina Mastrull, and I’m a junior Illustration major (with a minor in English and Textual Studies), native to Flemington, New Jersey. Though I’ve been in the SUMB for three years, this will be my first as a clarinet section leader as well as the band’s uniform chair; if you need help clasping your coat collar or straightening your shako, I’m your gal. Aside from the marching band, I play clarinet in the Sour Sitrus Society, serve as sister of Tau Beta Sigma (national band service sorority), and work as an illustrator for Jerk Magazine, office attendant for the School of Information Studies, and concert poster and program designer for Setnor School of Music. But if you’re more interested in the “off-the-résumé” facts about me, here are the essentials:

1) If I could be any cartoon character, it would be Tina Belcher from Bob’s Burgers.

2) I don’t consider myself a public performer, but if you put on Beyoncé’s “Love On Top,” you WILL get a show.

3) Anne Frank is my role model.

That being said, the SUMB is made up of many different personalities, interests and majors, which is why I enjoy it so much. In our band, you’ll find a group of individuals creating a ton of memories and submerging in tradition; we’re a family, and a large, weird, adorable one at that. I know my experiences with the SUMB will become my fondest memories, and I will go through life knowing the facts and the basics: I can properly run onto a football field, sing all the words to my University’s fight song and alma mater, and assure others that “head-banging” is never complete without a clarinet at hand. And in addition to all that, I can say the SUMB experience is valuable to me because I now have a group of friends who never fail to bring out the best in me.

I can’t say I have just one favorite memory of the Pride because from witnessing a Canadian football game to learning the “Gangnam Style” dance to freezing through an SU win in the Pinstripe Bowl, there are some ultimate gems. But I’m certainly looking forward to this coming season, seeing new faces embrace old traditions and old faces tackle new challenges. So to our rookies – Welcome to the family. You won’t regret it. And to our vets – Let’s show the ACC what we’ve got. There’s nothin’ finer in the land!

Yours Truly- Tina Mastrull

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A Presidential SUMBio: Meet Ashley, Tau Beta Sigma President!

Name: Ashley Orifice

Year: senior

Major: music education

Section: mellophone

Favorite thing about the SUMB: Being a member of the SUMB is so much more than being 1 of 200 people in a uniform on a field. It is just as much about friendships and experiences as it is about upholding the traditions of Syracuse University.

Favorite thing to do in band: quad show and march over.

Fun fact: I play trombone in the Sour Sitrus Society, and I am also the secretary of Sitrus.

What I’m looking forward to this season: our first season in the Dome as an ACC team, meeting the incoming freshmen and  all of the other exciting things the SUMB personally has in store for me this year, like joining the mellophone section.

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A Bit About SUMB Sophomore, Arman Hussain

I’m Arman, section leader of the baritone section and also an equipment manager. I am a biochemistry major with a minor in Psychology and a  neuroscience ILM doing pre-med.

I am looking forward to coming into the SUMB in a completely different position than I had as a freshman. I’ve got more responsibilities now, with the section leader gig and being a Brother of Kappa…Kappa…Psi— but I’m feeling pumped, excited, etc. for the upcoming year. Etcetera? You’re damned right etcetera.

I’m excited to see how the transition into the ACC goes, and I’m even more excited about all the schoolwork I get to leave behind when the band travels. What’s my favorite thing about the SUMB though? That’d be  all the crazy stuff we do, like when we march over to the dome and each section does  their own quirky thing, or when we all did the Gangnam Style dance (which never showed up anywhere). More of that kind of fun awaits us, SUMB!

Go Orange. 44. Georgetown sucks.

-Arman Hussain

A New Look for a New Era

We would like to express our sincerest gratitude toward the Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Foundation Inc. and Terry M. Skuse for their donation to the SUMB for us to purchase new uniforms. We move to the ACC next season and we are very excited to possibly have new uniforms after 15 years with our current ones!

In response to the Foundation’s donation, VPA has started the “A New Look for a New Era” campaign to raise the remaining funds needed to purchase the uniforms. We must meet the goal of $150,000 dollars by January 31, 2013 in order to have the uniforms in time for the 2013 season.

To learn more about the donation and the campaign, visit the VPA’s News website. To donate to VPA and our campaign, visit Give to VPA. And please spread the word so we can step onto the field next season in these amazing new uniforms!

SUMBio: Aniqa Iqbal

Name: Aniqa Iqbal (uh-knee-ka ick-ball)

Section: Drum line

Year: Sophomore

College: Arts and Science, undecided

Hometown: Ashburn, Virginia

I’ve been marching since my freshman year of high school, making this year my 6th season. Being the only one from my town coming to Syracuse, I knew the SUMB would be a great way to acclimate with a new campus while doing something I love. My closest friends are the ones I’ve made in the drum line. And maybe some trumpets through our friendly Olympic games.

Aside from being involved with the SUMB, I’m a sister of Alpha Gamma Delta. Go Greek! There’s nothing better than having brothers in the drum line and sisters in my sorority house.

SUMBio: Maria Varonko

Hey SUMBlog readers!

My name is Maria Varonko and I am a member of the flute section. I’m a junior music education major originally from Duxbury, Massachusetts, and this year will be my second season with the SUMB. Although I play the flute in band, my main instrument is the viola, and I’m still a major orch dork at heart. Before last year I had never had any experience with marching band (or a wind instrument for that matter) and while being a part of the SUMB is a lot of work, the experience is well worth it.

When I’m not in band practice, I enjoy spending time with my friends and working with the other organizations I’m affiliated with on campus. I’m a sister of Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity, and this year I will be serving as chapter president. This year I will also serve as the president of the National Association for Music Education collegiate chapter at SU. I’m so lucky and proud to be a part of both organizations and to work with so many incredible people who strive to highlight music’s importance in society.

Joining the SUMB was a very new and different experience for me. My favorite memory was the first day of rookie camp when I got to witness a good number of my friends and peers teach marching band fundamentals as members of leadership. This made me realize how talented and passionate my peers really are. It also taught me how the band can be anything for any member. Whether you’re looking to shine as a member of leadership or looking just to be part of something that’s bigger than you, the band can do that for you. I’m very happy with my involvement with the SUMB and can’t wait for another season!

Go Orange!

SUMBio: Dan Sclafani

Name: Daniel L. Sclafani
Major: Music Education
Hometown: Pallet Town, PA
Instrument: Alto Saxophone

Why I did band: Honestly, I wasn’t really planning on it for awhile. I was in marching band and it was a big deal for me, we were fairly competitive and was Drum Major three of four years. Yea man, it was pretty much what I thought about 24/7. I went hardcore with the whole marching band thing, as I’m sure a bunch of people do nowadays, yet I didn’t want to add anymore marching band other than those four years. I had grown tight with the members over the years, and doing band in college wouldn’t be the same experience…or so I told myself. Even though I had no intent to join marching band, and it didn’t really play into my decisions of where to go to school, that little voice of George N. Parks was nagging me. I remember he would say the same thing (when you’re at DMA for three years you start to notice how word-for-word everything gets) about kids who never do marching band in college vs. kids who do. So, hey, I put on that I would join the SUMB, and I gradually grew excited. Don’t know why but I just started getting hyped. And then the day came. The day came man, and it was intense. Sure things are different than how they were in the good ol’ HS days like how Generation V is different from Red and Blue (and Green) versions. But what’s most important in this event we call marching band is how much we can never stop growing as human beings. That’s exactly what never ceases when we commit our time to something so much bigger than we are… nothing truly ever ends does it?

Experiences with the SUMB: There’s a lot here, but if you’re still reading at this point, you’re not going to turn back now. I remember the sugar packets or whatever we call them (still don’t know some things yet). The first time was one of those WTF (am I allowed to say that? Wtf stands for water the flowers anyway) moments in my mind but like a lot of things, hey I’ll just go with it, man. Now, in late July, I miss it. Sounds dumb perhaps, but it’s something I can always think about, it was just intense, you know? All the huzzahs and what not add something to band; it just makes everything better. Halloween day, dress up like your favorite member day (I dressed as myself) etc. etc. All those different days where something is meant to happen, build up some excitement, and you learn to cherish them. The list can go on with little embellishments or blemishes (as I learned it’s the blemishes that stand out in your memory – Supernatural, season 5 ep. 22). They have the same properties, but what they are exactly is up to our individual discretion.

Other stuff I do on campus/Syracuse: I like to swim around Onondoga lake every morning to breathe in the nice fresh water. Drink it too! Cleaner than that Icelandic water I got for Christmas (seriously Icelandic water is the freshest water you can drink). Long walks on beaches as I slowly stroll feeling the nice ocean breeze and the waves caressing my legs, then hugging them suddenly. They disappear. I can then contemplate the quality of life in its nightmarish yet beautiful forms as I watch the pink clouds quietly dance around the sun’s shining beacon crawling back behind a horizon I cannot tell where it starts or ends…

Oh sorry, I was getting ahead of myself.

I also go on running adventures around the city with my good friend. Hardcore for miles at 2 in the morning (not actually joking about this…). Explore my favorite cave, Dragon’s Den… oh wait, that’s Blackthorn city. I also go to classes, and in my spare time I study for classes. And when I’m not studying or in class I like to practice in my spare time. And when I’m not studying or in class or practicing I like to go to the Carrier Dome for marching band practice/games. And when I’m not studying or in class or practicing or going to the Carrier Dome for marching band practice/games I like to go to lessons. And when I’m not studying or in class or practicing or going to the Carrier Dome for marching band practice/games or going to lessons…. what was I saying?

I am also involved in different band programs at SU, and last year I was Pit Manager with First Year Players where I was slave driven by Rachel Dentinger and John Hylk- I mean helped with logistics and got to play in the pit as well! They’re nice people I guess.

In addition to everything, if you haven’t noticed there are a lot of references to the Japanese anime/manga/gaming franchise Poke’mon. If you don’t understand those references, then as the cool folk say, “get on my level”. “brah”. I try never to say things like that but the occasion calls for it.

Favorite color: Syracuse Orange, what kind of question is that. (green)

Favorite show: Supernatural

Favorite Poke’mon: Dratini

Favorite SU Building: Crouse College, duh.

Favorite Book(s): Moby Dick, it’s a goddamn classic, Riders in the Chariot, LOTR obv.

“If any fool can make a rule, any fool can mind it”
-Henry David Thoreau

I honestly don’t know what else to say.
Cheers, Au Revoir, etc. Go Orange, 44, Go ‘Cuse, etc.

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: Rachel Dentinger

My name is Rachel Dentinger and I come from Clifton Park, NY.

In my area (518!), we really don’t have marching band, except for at the far edges. So, even though I was a band kid since fifth grade, I really only did ensembles like jazz band, wind ensemble, etc. I decided to go to school for music education – but as a vocalist. Subsequently, I was not required to join marching band. But I started making good friends who were instrumentalists in my program and they told me that marching band was a really fun thing to do. I was nervous – learning all of the music and formations seemed daunting. But I joined the SUMB in my junior year.

Being a rookie as a junior was certainly a unique experience. I got to see what the experience is like for incoming freshman while going through it with them. I really loved that. I loved seeing my friends lead the band as section leaders and drum majors and field assistants, and I really loved the amazing performances we all put on together. It has actually inspired a lot of my senior capstone, where I am experimenting with music and movement in a more lyrical sense.

I can’t wait to rejoin the SUMB for my senior year!

SUMBio: Patrick Garcia

Hey SUMB community!

Here’s just a little about my relationship with the SUMB so you can get to know one of your drum majors for the upcoming season a little better. I’m from Johnstown, PA and I’ll be a sophomore Music Education major. Even though the SUMB is a commitment, it hasn’t held a monopoly on my college activity. I’m in the Renee Crown University Honors Program, a hefty time consumer in itself, and still had time to be in several additional music ensembles like Hendricks Chapel Choir and the pit for First Year Players (FYP).

To any rookies, of course marching band takes up a lot of time, but so does any other activity worth doing in college. I can’t speak for everyone else, but the SUMB has had nothing but positive effects on my college life so far, and I can’t wait for the next three years of it.

Go Orange! – Patrick

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