Cal Band
Encyclopedia
The University of California Marching Band, usually shortened to Cal Band, is the marching band
for the University of California, Berkeley
. While the Cal Band is student-run, it is administered under the auspices of the university and represents Cal at sporting events and social gatherings. The name of the band is "The University of California Band" by the constitution, but is typically called "The University of California Marching Band" or "The Cal Band". When the band marches out of Memorial Stadium's North Tunnel for football pre-games, it is referred to as "The Pacesetter of College Marching Bands, the Pride of California".
Unlike most other collegiate marching bands, the Cal Band is not under the University's Department of Music but rather the Department of Student Musical Activities, with other student-led organizations such as the University of California Jazz Ensembles and University of California Choral Ensembles. The Band is entirely student-run, save for one University-paid employee, its Director. Five students, each heading a specific point of leadership within the band, are elected by their peers and serve for terms of one calendar year. The five student leaders and the Director form the Executive Committee. The Senior Manager is elected by the previous Executive Committee. All the other student Executive Committee positions are elected by a majority vote of the Band membership.
Presently, the Band has 240 members in the fall of 2010 (no color guard or auxiliary) and is under the direction of Robert Calonico
, himself an alumnus of the University and the Band, serving as its Student Director in 1976.
After the 1950 Rose Bowl
against Ohio State University
, the Cal Band decided to adopt its present high-stepping style after they discovered their performance looked lackluster in comparison to Ohio State's marching band. The Straw Hat Band, a subset of the Cal Band, was also established that same year. After Professor Cushing (director from 1934 to 1950) resigned, the Music Department was asked to provide the ASUC with a new Director for the Band. Coincidentally, James Berdahl (Student Director in 1938) was returning to Berkeley to work on his doctoral studies in music. The Music Department Chairman, Albert Elkus, convinced Berdahl to serve as acting Director of the Cal Band until the department could find a permanent replacement for Professor Cushing. Berdahl became permanent Director of the Cal Band at the end of the 1951 season, and remained in that position until 1971. During Berdahl's tenure, the band adopted its trademark high-stepping marching style. It is one of only two bands in the Pac-12 (the other being the Husky Marching Band), and one of the few outside the Big Ten Conference
, to use this physically demanding style.
In the fall of 1968, Dr. David W. Tucker (Ph.D, Cal, 1969) was hired as arranger and composer. He was appointed Associate Director in 1969. His responsibilities with the Cal Band included rehearsing, auditioning prospective new members, and directing on the football field opposite director James Berdahl. For the 1971 season, during Berdahl’s sabbatical year in Japan, Tucker was named Acting Director. At the end of the 1971 season, Tucker left the Cal Band to accept the newly-created position of Director of the University of California Jazz Ensembles
, after having been the volunteer director since 1969.
During the 1971 season, substantial podium time was taken by Assistant Director Robert O. Briggs
. He was appointed acting director in 1972, and was made director in 1973.
In the 1970s, the Band's leadership structure was reorganized, a new band constitution written, and sponsorship moved from ASUC to the University. In the Spring Quarter of 1973, the all-male band voted to admit women, in the face of Title IX
sanctions against the University, which was now the Band's primary funding source. There were fewer than 10 dissenting votes, against more than 100 votes in favor of admitting women. In the Fall 1973 marching season, 23 woman marched, together with 120 men. Although they rehearsed, marched and performed with the Band beginning in 1973, women were not entirely accepted by the Band's "inner fellowship" until through attrition the dissenting all-male band veterans had rotated out of the Band. More recently, the Band's membership has consisted of an even split of men and women, thus successfully broadening and improving the performance repertory possible for the Band's live performances.
In 1993, the Cal Band History Committee published a comprehensive history of the Cal Band. While this volume is now out of print, the text of the History Book can be found online at Cal Band History Book
Director Emeritus Robert O. Briggs
died in 2008, leaving a legacy of musicianship spanning two generations of musicians.
's "Black and White Ball," performed for such names as George Shultz (former U.S. Secretary of State), Peter Haas and family (UC Berkeley benefactors and the owners of Levi Strauss & Co.
), and George Lucas
. In addition, the Cal Band has been seen on the "Ed Sullivan Show," the nationally syndicated game show "Wheel of Fortune," Santa Rosa TV 50's morning program, KTVU
Channel 2's "Mornings on Two," KRON Channel 4's newscasts, "Bay Area Backroads," and sportscaster Vernon Glen's "Mr. Involvement." The Cal Band sound has been heard on dozens of Bay Area
radio stations, such as WiLD 94.9 and KMEL
106.1, Live 105
, and K101
, and rounds out its exposure on the pages of numerous Bay Area newspapers. In 2010, the band also led the San Francisco Giants
victory parade in downtown San Francisco.
Wintertime activities include playing at various on campus sporting events and trips to play at various ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe
region.
Before 2002, in the spring, the Band performed a traditional "Spring Show" in UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium, combining the marching and playing talents of the band with other, hidden talents usually reserved for off the football field. Spring Show was discontinued in 2002 after financial burdens to the band resulting from funding cuts to the University of California system. In 2009, the Spring Show was brought back.
In a different sort of performance, the Cal Band was asked to help with the Nobel Lecture by George Smoot
in 2006 by recreating "The Big Bang."
In the Bleacher Report's power ranking of the top 25 college marching band pregames shows and traditions, the Cal Band was named 9th (of 25) as having a show that "beckons [the] former glory days, full of school songs and traditional formations" and is "a stand-alone classic".
s, piccolo
s, clarinet
s, alto saxophone
s, tenor saxophone
s, trumpet
s, mellophone
s, trombone
s, baritones
, sousaphone
s, snare drum
s, tenor drums, bass drum
s, and cymbals
.
.
The Cal Alumni Band performs at various events such as: San Francisco AIDS Walk, Alumni Band Day, the Fourth of July Parade in Sausalito, California
, Cal Basketball Games, and many other performances in the San Francisco Bay Area
and across California
.
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
for the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. While the Cal Band is student-run, it is administered under the auspices of the university and represents Cal at sporting events and social gatherings. The name of the band is "The University of California Band" by the constitution, but is typically called "The University of California Marching Band" or "The Cal Band". When the band marches out of Memorial Stadium's North Tunnel for football pre-games, it is referred to as "The Pacesetter of College Marching Bands, the Pride of California".
Unlike most other collegiate marching bands, the Cal Band is not under the University's Department of Music but rather the Department of Student Musical Activities, with other student-led organizations such as the University of California Jazz Ensembles and University of California Choral Ensembles. The Band is entirely student-run, save for one University-paid employee, its Director. Five students, each heading a specific point of leadership within the band, are elected by their peers and serve for terms of one calendar year. The five student leaders and the Director form the Executive Committee. The Senior Manager is elected by the previous Executive Committee. All the other student Executive Committee positions are elected by a majority vote of the Band membership.
Presently, the Band has 240 members in the fall of 2010 (no color guard or auxiliary) and is under the direction of Robert Calonico
Robert Calonico
Robert M. Calonico is the Director of Bands at the University of California, Berkeley, where his duties include directing and arranging for the Cal Band and conducting the University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band. The Cal Band's most recent recording, "University of California Band," was...
, himself an alumnus of the University and the Band, serving as its Student Director in 1976.
History
The Cal Band has its roots in the University Cadet Band established in 1891. In 1923, the Band was sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) and its student leadership structure was formalized two years later. In the early years (prior to 1971), various faculty from the Music department were appointed director of the band through an arrangement with the ASUC.After the 1950 Rose Bowl
1950 Rose Bowl
The 1950 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played between Ohio State University and University of California at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The game was a rematch of the 1921 Rose Bowl where both Ohio State and Cal both played in the teams' first bowl game. Ohio State came out...
against Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, the Cal Band decided to adopt its present high-stepping style after they discovered their performance looked lackluster in comparison to Ohio State's marching band. The Straw Hat Band, a subset of the Cal Band, was also established that same year. After Professor Cushing (director from 1934 to 1950) resigned, the Music Department was asked to provide the ASUC with a new Director for the Band. Coincidentally, James Berdahl (Student Director in 1938) was returning to Berkeley to work on his doctoral studies in music. The Music Department Chairman, Albert Elkus, convinced Berdahl to serve as acting Director of the Cal Band until the department could find a permanent replacement for Professor Cushing. Berdahl became permanent Director of the Cal Band at the end of the 1951 season, and remained in that position until 1971. During Berdahl's tenure, the band adopted its trademark high-stepping marching style. It is one of only two bands in the Pac-12 (the other being the Husky Marching Band), and one of the few outside the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
, to use this physically demanding style.
In the fall of 1968, Dr. David W. Tucker (Ph.D, Cal, 1969) was hired as arranger and composer. He was appointed Associate Director in 1969. His responsibilities with the Cal Band included rehearsing, auditioning prospective new members, and directing on the football field opposite director James Berdahl. For the 1971 season, during Berdahl’s sabbatical year in Japan, Tucker was named Acting Director. At the end of the 1971 season, Tucker left the Cal Band to accept the newly-created position of Director of the University of California Jazz Ensembles
University of California Jazz Ensembles
The University of California Jazz Ensembles, also known as the UC Jazz Ensembles, UC Jazz, or UCJE, is the student jazz organization founded in 1967 on the University of California, Berkeley, campus. Founded in 1967, it comprises one or more big bands, numerous jazz combos, a vocal jazz ensemble,...
, after having been the volunteer director since 1969.
During the 1971 season, substantial podium time was taken by Assistant Director Robert O. Briggs
Robert O. Briggs
Robert Orlando Briggs was the longtime director of the University of California Marching Band. He was the fourth full time director since the founding of the band in 1891....
. He was appointed acting director in 1972, and was made director in 1973.
In the 1970s, the Band's leadership structure was reorganized, a new band constitution written, and sponsorship moved from ASUC to the University. In the Spring Quarter of 1973, the all-male band voted to admit women, in the face of Title IX
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...
sanctions against the University, which was now the Band's primary funding source. There were fewer than 10 dissenting votes, against more than 100 votes in favor of admitting women. In the Fall 1973 marching season, 23 woman marched, together with 120 men. Although they rehearsed, marched and performed with the Band beginning in 1973, women were not entirely accepted by the Band's "inner fellowship" until through attrition the dissenting all-male band veterans had rotated out of the Band. More recently, the Band's membership has consisted of an even split of men and women, thus successfully broadening and improving the performance repertory possible for the Band's live performances.
In 1993, the Cal Band History Committee published a comprehensive history of the Cal Band. While this volume is now out of print, the text of the History Book can be found online at Cal Band History Book
Director Emeritus Robert O. Briggs
Robert O. Briggs
Robert Orlando Briggs was the longtime director of the University of California Marching Band. He was the fourth full time director since the founding of the band in 1891....
died in 2008, leaving a legacy of musicianship spanning two generations of musicians.
Performances
The Cal Band has been seen and heard at a variety of performance venues. In the recent past, the Cal Band has appeared at the San Francisco SymphonySan Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
's "Black and White Ball," performed for such names as George Shultz (former U.S. Secretary of State), Peter Haas and family (UC Berkeley benefactors and the owners of Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
), and George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
. In addition, the Cal Band has been seen on the "Ed Sullivan Show," the nationally syndicated game show "Wheel of Fortune," Santa Rosa TV 50's morning program, KTVU
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
Channel 2's "Mornings on Two," KRON Channel 4's newscasts, "Bay Area Backroads," and sportscaster Vernon Glen's "Mr. Involvement." The Cal Band sound has been heard on dozens of Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
radio stations, such as WiLD 94.9 and KMEL
KMEL
KMEL is an Urban Contemporary-formatted radio station located in San Francisco, California, and owned by Clear Channel Communications....
106.1, Live 105
KITS
KITS is a San Francisco, California, USA-based radio station broadcasting at 105.3 MHz. The station is owned by CBS Radio and programs a modern rock format. The station also broadcasts on HD channel L2, locally on Comcast cable channel 986, and is streaming online.-Hot Hits:The station's...
, and K101
KIOI
KIOI FM is a radio station licensed to San Francisco, California. The Clear Channel Communications-owned station programs a Hot Adult Contemporary format.- KPEN :...
, and rounds out its exposure on the pages of numerous Bay Area newspapers. In 2010, the band also led the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
victory parade in downtown San Francisco.
Wintertime activities include playing at various on campus sporting events and trips to play at various ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
region.
Before 2002, in the spring, the Band performed a traditional "Spring Show" in UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium, combining the marching and playing talents of the band with other, hidden talents usually reserved for off the football field. Spring Show was discontinued in 2002 after financial burdens to the band resulting from funding cuts to the University of California system. In 2009, the Spring Show was brought back.
In a different sort of performance, the Cal Band was asked to help with the Nobel Lecture by George Smoot
George Smoot
George Fitzgerald Smoot III is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, Nobel laureate, and $1 million TV quiz show prize winner . He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work on COBE with John C...
in 2006 by recreating "The Big Bang."
Football Performances
During weeks of home football games the Cal Band gives several performances. On Fridays before a game, the Cal Band plays at the noon rallies on Sproul Plaza. On game days the Cal Band gives a concert on Sproul Plaza an hour and a half before kickoff. Following this performance, the Band marches in formation to California Memorial Stadium, leading a procession of Cal alumni and fans. During home football games the band gives a pre-game show, a half time show, and typically a musical performance after the game as the crowd leaves. During the game, the band is seated to the left of the primary student section, and plays stand songs, as well as fight songs throughout the game. A "break off" band performs in the front of each major section during the third quarter.In the Bleacher Report's power ranking of the top 25 college marching band pregames shows and traditions, the Cal Band was named 9th (of 25) as having a show that "beckons [the] former glory days, full of school songs and traditional formations" and is "a stand-alone classic".
Instrumentation
The Cal Band uses a fairly standard military band instrumentation with glockenspielGlockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
s, piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
s, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
s, tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
s, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, mellophone
Mellophone
The mellophone is a brass instrument that is typically used in place of the horn in marching bands or drum and bugle corps....
s, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, baritones
Baritone horn
The baritone horn is a member of the brass instrument family. The baritone horn has a predominantly cylindrical bore as do the trumpet and trombone. A baritone horn uses a large mouthpiece much like those of a trombone or euphonium, although it is a bit smaller. Some baritone mouthpieces will sink...
, sousaphone
Sousaphone
The sousaphone is a type of tuba that is widely employed in marching bands. Designed so that it fits around the body of the musician and is supported by the left shoulder, the sousaphone may be readily played while being carried...
s, snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
s, tenor drums, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
s, and cymbals
Clash cymbals
Clash cymbals or hand cymbals are cymbals played in identical pairs by holding one cymbal in each hand and striking the two together.-Terminology:The technical term clash cymbal is rarely used...
.
California Alumni Band
The California Alumni Band, usually shorted to Cal Alumni Band, is a marching band consisting of former Cal Band members. The Cal Alumni Band is run by the non-profit Cal Band Alumni Association and is a subset of the Cal Alumni Association, an organization that handles alumni affairs of the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
The Cal Alumni Band performs at various events such as: San Francisco AIDS Walk, Alumni Band Day, the Fourth of July Parade in Sausalito, California
Sausalito, California
Sausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...
, Cal Basketball Games, and many other performances in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
and across California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.