16th Annual ECU Band Day
Saturday, October 13, 2012

Dear Colleague,

I am writing to invite you and your students to participate in our 16th annual East Carolina University Band Day. Plans are underway to make the 2012 event a great experience for all involved. ECU Band Day will once again take place as part of the ECU homecoming game day festivities on Saturday, October 13, 2012 when the ECU Pirates host the University of Memphis Tigers. I hope you will consider joining us for a great day of socializing, rehearsing and performing with more than 1,500 band students in our massed band show at halftime! Kickoff time for this year’s Homecoming game is 4:30pm. This time will allow us to begin our rehearsal at 1pm at the Marching Pirates practice field.  In addition to the game performance, participating marching bands will march in the ECU homecoming parade that begins at 10am.

As in the past, generous support from ECU Athletics is allowing us to provide this event at no cost to you. All students, chaperones and band directors participating will receive free admission to the game. In addition, your band will receive one free adult ticket for every ten students who participate. Bus parking will be provided. Additional tickets for parents or boosters will be made available at a special cost.

The halftime show will begin with an ECU Marching Pirates performance and presentation of the homecoming court. Then the massed band will move into their assigned block position as the ECU Marching Pirates percussion section plays a cadence (we will not include any sideline percussion). Because the 2012 Homecoming theme is “The Greatest Place on Earth,” we will then stand and play the Tim Waters arrangement of “Tears of a Clown” (www.jwpepper.com/10305017.item) and the Richard Saucedo arrangement of “Spinning Wheel” (www.jwpepper.com/2369411.item) followed by the ECU Fight Song before exiting the field to another cadence played by the ECU Marching Pirates Drumline. The copyright for the ECU fight song is owned by ECU but the university does not own rights for the other two songs. Therefore, EC Victory will be sent as a PDF file to participating bands but each band will need to make arrangement to purchase the other two songs. Links to the J.W. Pepper catalogue for both songs have been included for your convenience.

Deadline for registration is Friday, September 21 and bands will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis up to approximately 1,200 students. Any bands applying after that enrollment has been reached will be placed on a waiting list. Upon receipt of your participation form, you will be emailed music, an event schedule and order forms for additional tickets. Final schedules, field position, seating and bus parking information will be emailed by October 5. Please complete and submit the Online Registration Form below as soon as possible to confirm your involvement.

Do not hesitate to call if I may be of any assistance. I look forward to meeting and hearing from you soon and seeing you and your band on October 13. Best wishes for an enjoyable and successful season.

Sincerely,

William Staub
Associate Director of Bands and
Director of the ECU Marching Pirates
School of Music
East Carolina University
staubw@ecu.edu