The University of Kansas

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 Marching Band

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...

, known to fans as "The Marching Jayhawks", is an 285 piece marching band consisting of woodwinds, brass, percussion, and color guard.

History

In 1887, Stuart O. Henry put together a small, 12 member brass ensemble at the University of Kansas. The band, however didn't really take off until the early 20th century when, in 1906, the band obtained uniforms, and in 1907 got a director, Joseph C. McCanles, who was a member of the faculty. In 1972, women became a regular part of the band. In 1989, the University of Kansas Band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy for marching bands. In 1994 Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

named the Jayhawk band as one of the top ten college marching bands.

Directors of Bands

• 1907-1933: Joseph C. McCanles
• 1933-1968: Russell L. Wiley
• 1968-1970: Kenneth Bloomquist
• 1970-1971: George Boberg
• 1971-2002: Robert E. Foster
• 2002-2007: John P. Lynch
• 2007-Spring 2010: Scott Weiss
• Fall 2010-present: Paul Popiel

Directors of Athletic Bands

• 2003-2006 James Hudson
• 2007-2011 David Clemmer
• 2011-present Matthew O. Smith

The Songs of the University of Kansas

I'm A Jayhawk

Fighting Jayhawk

Stand Up and Cheer

Kansas Song

Sunflower Song

Crimson & Blue

Home on the Range

KU Songs

External links

Official website

The Lawrence Journal-World: Music appreciation

KUsports.com