 
You are
invited to participate in one of the most spirited and rewarding
activities East Carolina University offers: the East Carolina University
Marching Pirates! As the dominant spirit organization on campus, the
band entertains more than three-hundred thousand fans each year at ECU
games and regional high school marching band festivals. The band's
unique style combines exciting arrangements of diverse musical styles
with traditional and contemporary drill design.
Whatever your band instrument or section, whatever your college major,
we have a place for you. Our members take pride in the "family"
atmosphere they create, which helps make our 26,000 student campus seem
a whole lot friendlier. This diverse group of more than 250 students,
the largest student organization on the ECU campus, represents a wide
variety of majors from many schools in the University. In fact, only
about one-fourth of the students in the Marching Pirates are music
majors. Students of all ability levels from many different backgrounds
participate in the band, and membership is open to all qualified
students enrolled in the University.
Academic excellence is important in the ECU Marching Pirates, and we
understand the time constraints of full-time university students. With
that in mind, we have a planned rehearsal schedule each week: Monday,
Wednesday and Friday 4-6pm, and on the mornings or afternoons of home
football games.  We have found that that very few academic classes
conflict with this time slot. Students can receive "academic release
time" from a
rehearsal (to
meet with a professor, attend a
supervised
review session, etc.), if pre-approved by the
director. Members have
plenty of time to participate in a variety of organizations on campus
such as academic honor societies, concert bands, intramural sports,
ROTC, fraternities and sororities and many others. Two hours of
elective or fine arts credit is awarded for participation in marching
band and is applicable toward free elective requirements in all degree
plans.
The ECU Marching Pirates
Incentive Program provides financial support for some band members by
rewarding their contributions of time, talent and leadership to our
program. Currently, all fourth-year members and undergraduate staff
members (UGS) are eligible to receive $400 while sousaphone and trombone
players are eligible to receive $250.
In recent years the band has traveled to football games at the U.S.
Naval Academy, UNC Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech, Duke, South Carolina and
NC State, and has performed “exhibition” performances at high school
marching band festivals throughout North Carolina and Virginia,
including trips to Washington, DC and Richmond, VA. Other performance
highlights have included performing at the 2003 Rockingham NASCAR race
and President George W. Bush's visit to ECU in April, 2001 as well as
halftime shows for the Washington Redskins at RFK Stadium in Washington,
DC, and for the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in
Charlotte, NC. The band has also performed in the following bowl games:
-
2010 Military Bowl (Washington D.C.)
-
1994, 1995, 2009 and 2010 AutoZone Liberty Bowl
(Memphis, TN)
-
2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, AL)
-
2001 GMAC Bowl (Mobile, AL)
-
2000 galleryfurniture.com Bowl (Houston, TX)
-
1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl (Mobile, AL)
 Our
2011 football season will begin Labor Day weekend with a trip to Bank of
America Stadium in Charlotte, NC to support our football Pirates as they
take on the nationally ranked University of South Carolina Gamecocks of
the Southeastern Conference. We have an exciting home game schedule in
2011 which includes matchups against ACC rivals Virginia Tech and the
University of North Carolina! The Marching Pirates have also been
invited to participate as the exhibition band at the 23rd Annual
Festival of Bands in Fuquay-Varina, NC. For a complete up-to-date
schedule of performances, please visit our
SCHEDULE
page.
When
the Marching Pirates travel the cost of transportation, meals and
lodging is provided by the university. All travel is expense paid!
Please
take time to search through this website and check back often for
updates. If you have questions regarding membership, please contact Dr.
Franklin, Director of Athletic Bands, at
MarchingPirates@ecu.edu. Go
Pirates!
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