Even though there will be no football this fall, the Purdue All-American Marching Band will play on.
The All-American Marching Band, which meets as a class at Purdue, will continue to rehearse during the fall despite the Big Ten's postponement this week of 2020 football games amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our goal is to support the team, no matter what happens," said Jay Gephart, Purdue’s director of bands and a professor of music for the university. "So, you know, I think Coach (Jeff) Brohm understands that and I think everybody at Purdue knows how fortunate the university is to have such an incredible college marching band.”
Gephart is the man who makes it all happen on those fall Saturdays in Ross-Ade Stadium as the director of Purdue’s All-American Marching Band. While Brohm’s football squad is sidelined in 2020 with hopes of playing in the spring and fall of 2021, Gephart is moving forward.
The band will live-stream selected performances and make recordings throughout the fall semester, bringing the spirit of Purdue to the university, alumni and friends, and to the local community.
“So much of our planning has just been based on what we anticipate might happen," said Gephart prior to the postponement of the 2020 football season.
While the marching band will continue to meet this academic year, the extracurricular Boiler Box Band, which supports volleyball, will not meet this fall.
Gephart joined Purdue in 1995 and has built on the grand tradition of Purdue’s marching band since becoming Director of University Bands in 2006. But the challenges surrounding assembling this year’s band are unlike any he has faced.
“It’s very complex, quite frankly,” he said. “The COVID-19 situation and our requirements to socially distance, we're having to do some things very differently this fall.”
Gephart and his team typically accept about 380 students for the band each year.
“This year, we’ve opened the enrollment up and we’re gonna accept anyone who wants to be in the marching band—any wind or percussionist,” he said. “The reason behind that is we are trying to drive as many musicians as we can to an outdoor environment. It’s a much more safe environment for them to be outside and play.”
Gephart is in communication with his Big Ten marching bands peers, constantly exchanging information and ideas during an ever-shifting landscape.
“We have regular virtual meetings to talk about these topics,” said Gephart. “And there are discussion boards all over the internet where people go and post plans and so forth.
“We're going to put bell covers over all the brass instruments. So when they look at the band, they're gonna see the band with these black bell covers over the brass which will have the motion ‘P’ on them. But anything we can do to mitigate the spread of the virus, we're gonna do.”
A release from the university states that the “All-American Marching Band will wear protective masks for the entirety of every rehearsal and performance. Wind players will receive uniquely designed masks, allowing students to play instruments while keeping their faces covered. All brass instruments will be outfitted with bell covers as well. All marching drill will be designed to meet social distance requirements."
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Next up: Gephart will start a modified band camp experience on August 17th.
“What we have to do is we've got to ensure that the future of the All-American Marching Band is secure,” said Gephart. “So we've got to train our new students, our incoming freshmen, just like we normally would. We can't just have a gap year. So, we have to keep things moving forward.
“There are rules governing events and so forth on campus, essentially. Either you have to get permission from the provost office if you want to have an event over 50 people. So, none of our drill field performances will be open to the public.”
The search for certainties in an uncertain world can be maddening for Gephart, who notes cheerleaders, dance team members and the like had been in a wait-and-see pattern for weeks and weeks. Now, with some clarity to the situation with the postponement of football, the band can move forward.
“The All-American Marching Band will exist this fall in some fashion," said Gephart.”
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