The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's 300-member Cornhusker Marching Band makes its 2018 debut Sept. 1 at Memorial Stadium with pregame and halftime performances at Nebraska's football season opener against Akron.
This year's band includes representatives from nearly every region of the country; though, 80 percent of the students are from Nebraska. Twenty-five percent of the students are music or music education majors. The rest — including six at the School of Natural Resources — are studying in more than 70 other degree programs across campus. Each band member passed two auditions to gain admittance to the group.
Anthony M. Falcone, associate director of bands in the Glenn Korff School of Music, is the director of the Cornhusker Marching Band. Douglas W. Bush is the assistant director of bands and assistant marching band director. Carolyn Barber, Ron and Carol Cope Professor of Music, is director of bands. Other band staff members are graduate teaching assistants Sarah Aymond, Christopher Brandt and Ruben Gomez. Leon Zajimovic is the percussion instructor, and Michaela Vestecka is the color guard instructor. Rose Johnson is the administrative technician, Jan Deaton is the office associate, and Nolan Schmit is the "voice" of the band.
The drum majors for the 2018 marching band are junior Jacob Coughlin of Omaha, senior Rachel Hoffman of Beatrice and junior Ethan Millington of Cortland. The twirlers are junior Hannah Kollmann of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and freshman Kimberly Law of La Quinta, California.
The Cornhusker Marching Band, which resides in the Korff School, was founded in 1879 as an ROTC unit and is one of the oldest marching bands in the nation. The band has received many honors throughout its 139-year history, including a Distinguished Recognition Trophy presented by John Philip Sousa in 1927 and the John Philip Sousa Foundation's Sudler Trophy in 1996. The Sudler Trophy is the highest honor given to collegiate bands.
The “Pride of All Nebraska” has been seen by millions of viewers on television. The band was the first collegiate ensemble to perform at all of the major football bowl games: Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar and Cotton. The full marching band will travel to the Nebraska at Wisconsin game on Oct. 6.
The following is a list of 2018 Cornhusker Marching Band members who are a part of SNR.
NEBRASKA:
Bellevue:
• Celeste Kenworthy, clarinet, sophomore, water science.
Hastings:
• Lindsey LaBrie, tenor saxophone, junior, fisheries and wildlife.
Hickman:
• Jenna McCoy, trumpet, sophomore, applied climate science.
Omaha:
• Mikaela Deptula, clarinet, junior, fisheries and wildlife.
Palmyra:
• Grace Patton, piccolo, senior, fisheries and wildlife.
Papillion:
• John Bowley, tuba, senior, fisheries and wildlife.
Adapted from Nebraska Today