AMHERST — Zoe Cohen leaned over the wooden ledge of the George N. Parks Minuteman Marching Band Building mezzanine and watched as hundreds of musicians broke into the opening bars of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
“I’ve lived a life that’s full, I traveled each and every highway,” students sang to the California high schooler, locking arms as they swayed on the floor beneath her. “And more, much more. I did it, I did it my way.”
Cohen’s eyes brimmed with tears when the musicians raised their instruments to close out the song. From then on, she said, she knew she wanted to be a part of the band.
Cohen is now one of five drum majors leading the 340-person ensemble, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Once an 11-person drum corps at what was then called the Massachusetts Agricultural College, today’s band comprises musicians, baton twirlers and a color guard who perform at every home football game.
“You can always count on the band to be the loudest cheerleaders for the football team,” said Allison Lee, a junior who helps to lead the color guard — the group of students who spin flags, rifles and other props that add color to the performance.
Saturday’s game marks their annual Band Day, when more than 2,500 high school students travel from across New England to learn and perform a music arrangement and marching drill with the band. Many band members once attended Band Day before coming to UMass, and training a new generation of musicians is an opportunity to look towards the next 150 years.
The band rehearses every weeknight on the practice fields beside the Mullins Center, led by band director Timothy Todd “TTA” Anderson, who perches atop a scissor lift that allows him to see the entire band from 50 feet in the air.
Beneath him, the five drum majors facilitate drills and conduct the band. They undergo three rounds of auditions to become drum major, and applicants do not find out whether they earned the position until school lets out for the summer. Senior Patrick Kearns remembered he was lifting the cover off his family’s pool when he received the call.
“It was just the best feeling ever,” said Kearns, who applied because he wanted to pay forward the support he received from previous band leaders. “I knew how special I felt because of the drum majors when I was just on the field.”
Musicians may practice within their section at the beginning of rehearsal, but as the sun dips in the horizon, drum leaders reconvene the entire band and run through a rotation of songs. When something clicks and the music and marching comes together, associate band director Ian Hale said the excitement is palpable.
“We go from nothing to something very quickly,” Hale said, reflecting on the rapid growth that occurs throughout the season.
Musicians, color guard and twirlers return to campus days before most UMass students to attend band camp, a week of intensive practices when band members learn the season’s music arrangements and marching drills. From Sunday to Friday, the group starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m., braving the heat, rain and mud — sometimes all at once — to learn how to perform in harmony.
The 340 members “eat together, sleep together and smell together,” joked Gina Zarcone, a graduate student and feature twirler accustomed to long, sweaty practices. In just one week, the band bonds over their shared love for music and demanding rehearsal schedule, helping newcomers develop a sense of belonging on campus before classes begin.
“As a freshman, you come in already knowing 300 people,” said Emma LaCava, a senior drum major. “You come into college with a family.”
UMMB was the reason Tara O’Connor came to UMass, after she attended a workshop at the university with the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy — founded by former UMass band director George Parks — while she was the drum major at Northampton High School. Although she applied to other colleges that offered marching band programs, O’Connor said “none of them had this marching band,” which she said prioritizes having fun over achieving perfection.
“That’s why we come back to band every day,” said O’Connor, who is one of two students leading the flute section. “It’s not because we want to be performing drill when it’s 90 degrees or pouring rain.”
Anyone can join the band, regardless of their level of experience. Freshman Emma Boulanger learned how to play the alto saxophone during band camp, after hearing she could join without knowing how to play an instrument.
Parks coined the phrase “band is for everyone,” which remains one of the organization’s core values, more than 13 years since the former band director died suddenly of a heart attack in Ohio, en route to a band performance at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Parks began directing UMMB in 1977, and for the next 33 years, he “revolutionized the marching band,” said Christine Sirard, the band’s assistant director and former color guard captain.
More than 900 alumni attended and played in that year’s homecoming halftime show in Parks’ honor. When Anderson became the next band director, he recognized there was “a long shadow cast” by his predecessor’s reputation.
“My desk was supposed to be his desk,” said Anderson, who works in the Minuteman Band Building that Parks had only been alive to see the university break ground on.
Anderson slowly put his own spin on the band, which marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013 and the Rose Parade in 2018 under his watch. Parks’ traditions are still ingrained in their setlist though, including the band’s interpretation of “My Way.”
“There’s nothing like having 400 people playing at your hands,” said Cohen, who these days conducts the song that once made her choose UMass. As she prepares to graduate, she is hopeful for the band’s next 150 years.
“I really thought I’d be really sad,” Cohen said. “But something I didn’t really understand is how the band goes on without us.”