Alpha Zeta, the IU chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, is broadcasting an information night about joining IU bands, specifically the Marching Hundred, 4 p.m. on Feb. 20. The Q&A event will be produced by Epsilon Nu, the chapter’s 2021 class of membership candidates, and broadcasted on Facebook Live. The event is oriented toward high school students, but anyone interested in joining college bands are welcome to attend.
“It'll be nice for the students who are attending to hear a more candid response,” IU freshman and Epsilon Nu president Katie Martin said. “They'll get a genuine student perspective of what marching band is generally like.”
Martin and seven other Epsilon Nu members will present information on the Marching Hundred during the livestream. After that, participants can ask all 22 members of the class questions about the marching band, the Big Red Basketball Band, all campus ensembles and the Jacobs School of Music ensembles. Martin said the livestream is planned to be 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many questions they recieve.
According to Martin, the goal of this information night is to inform people of all the opportunities for music at IU. She said they want to advertise music to everyone as a lot of people do not realize the music opportunities on campus.
IU sophomore and Epsilon Nu treasurer Evan Meinerding said that during one of their meetings, the group talked about how most of them were not music majors and did not know how to continue music after high school.
“That was kind of our goal audience, people that want to continue on with music after high school, but they may not necessarily want to pursue music as a career,” Meinerding said. “We're just going for people that are passionate about music and are like-minded individuals that might want to continue with music in IU band programs.”
Martin said the entire fraternity has been advertising this event by contacting high school band directors and major youth orchestras, such as the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Symphony of Kansas City.
This information night will demonstrate elements of the bands that high schoolers would be interested in, Meinerding said. For example, in his freshman year at IU, Meinerding got to travel with the Marching Hundred to Jacksonville, Florida, free of charge to play at the Gator Bowl.
Related: [IU Marching Hundred director to step down, citing health concerns]
“It's more than just a music ensemble,” Meinerding said. “It is a really great way to make friends or simple opportunities like getting into games for free.”
As class president, Martin manages communication between her class and the Kappa Kappa Psi executive board.
“Being involved with a bunch of other people who care so much about music is exactly what I was looking for in an organization here on campus,” Martin said.
Alpha Zeta president Ailed Duran said she encourages people to attend this event. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the fraternity is still trying to come up with creative ways to stay involved with the community with their mission of supporting bands and ensembles.
“This is a great opportunity for high schoolers to be able to see what band is like in college even during this pandemic, because we're still doing it,” Duran said. “Hopefully one day it’ll feel a little more normal, but this is a good opportunity for them to see it and learn more about it.”
