This fall Dakota State University will focus the instrumental band program on its pep band, DSU President Dr. Doug Knowlton announced today. The decision was made on the basis of several factors, including a declining enrollment in the current band program. While the concert and jazz band programs will be discontinued, the choral program will be unchanged and the Kingsmen scholarships will remain available.
"We want students who choose to participate in the band program at DSU to have an opportunity to be heard by larger audiences," said Dr. Knowlton. "We also recognized that without a music major at DSU, it is hard to sustain a traditional band program." Knowlton said that despite the decline in band participation, the quality of the student musicians remained high, and so a plan was developed to give those students continued opportunities to perform. This new approach to the band program will also allow the university to provide financial support for members of the pep band as is the case at other universities.
The pep band will have regularly scheduled rehearsals and will perform at DSU sporting events and other campus activities
This is absolutely ludacrious. Perfect way to kill a program that has up to 35 active members. Students want to play in a concert setting, not pep band. Believe me, we have tried to get more involved in athletic events such as homecoming but honestly I would rather watch a game (football, basketball, vollyball) then have a horn stuck to my face. Why should we become cheerleaders for the athletic department? Why change the program now? Paying students is not going to work either, we do it for the enjoyment of playing. Sure there might be a few students who would be willing to go in that direction but you still need every part of the song so 10 clarinet players are not going to help. I would suggest handing the control of the band over to the students. Let them decide what music to play, let them decide when they would like to have band, let them decide!
Letter to Dr. Knowlton
I’m in complete disagreement with this, why would 35 members of the band, one of the largest organizations on campus, choose to stop doing concerts and become a cheerleader for other organizations when nobody has cheered us on? Example being every Homecoming game where the favored music is not played by the band but by the announcer in the press box with his computer. It does not take a large financial contribution to keep the program I have been a part of for 7 years alive. We have a great venue, the people, and a little money for instrument repair/new songs, and we’re set.
Letter to Dennis and Barb Hegg
Here's a couple of ideas I've had just brainstorming... With the current GAF fee (provided its not gone) couldn't we take that money and apply it to recruiting? Example, have a sign up sheet on the registration days during the summer, possibly provide some handouts, free pencils, etc. (Students love free things) with the location and times that we meet? I think there's like 5 or 6 DSU days or whatever they call them. This would just take a few people to stand there and give out information. ALSO....I think this really impacts some of the great potential we have of being able to touch students who come to campus as a high school students. There are really two major events, Large Group Contest and Homecoming. With large group contest, we can apply the same recruitment scenario...I have a few band members pass out literature/material and help out during the contest (we've done something like this in the past) and tell incoming students about the organization? The contest is in April and four months later...wha la, they're here as student of Dakota State. The second major event we have is homecoming. Why not invite the high school bands to stay after homecoming, dine with us (maybe throw in a little visit from Dr. Knowlton?) and play pep band? If all else fails, what about creating a "community band" that is essentially what it is anyways because we have always welcomed members of the community to join in band and chorus regardless. Going to the extreme here....We have band two nights a week and students can't make it due to class scheduling and work. We have the numbers, it is getting people to show up every week which is the real issue. Why not have band practice four nights a week? Monday through Thursday? So if someone had to work on a Monday & Wednesday schedule or a Tuesday & Thursday schedule, they could potentially still make it on the off days. So instead of someone missing one day or the whole week on the current schedule, they miss 50% of the time which still amounts to two days of practice, as my old band director, Gary Mark says "Practice, Practice, Practice". In regards to the fall and spring concerts, I would have liked to see more notice, I didn't see anything on DSU's master calendar about the concerts and they weren't listed in the paper. I think that would generate a lot of interest. My high school always did a Pops concert: Food and a show. That racked in a lot of money for the organization which could go to better equipment, lighting, and scholarships. I did see that Dan Mortenson was building a couple of sound proof rooms in the TCB lab, there could be a way to incorporate that into our program, or maybe he could move it to the playhouse? Another note, access to the playhouse for students to rehearse has always been kind of hard, could we put a biometric device on the door? Finally, I know we have the talent on campus to put together a great band. I agree that something does need to change and maybe this needs to be more student lead. I just can't imagine taking apart an organization that I've been apart of for 7 years.
Posted at: 09:47 AM | Add Comment
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