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The East Carolina University Marching Pirates 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 and National Football League games, as well as 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 24,000 student campus seem a whole lot friendlier. This diverse group of more than 230 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 4-6 PM, 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 Scholarship Program provides financial support for band members by rewarding their contributions of time, talent and leadership to our program. All band seniors receive $400.00 and Sousaphone players will also receive $400.00. Our 2007 football season will begin Labor Day weekend with an overnight trip to Blacksburg, VA, where we will perform a Memorial Tribute at halftime of the ECU-Virginia Tech football game. Our home schedule includes games against UNC and NC State, and we will also perform an exhibition performance at the Havelock High School Band Festival in November. 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. The band has also performed at the the 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, AL, the 2001 GMAC Bowl in Mobile, AL, the 2000 galleryfurniture.com Bowl in Houston, Texas, the 1999 Mobile, Alabama Bowl, the 1994 and 1995 Liberty Bowls in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 1996 the Marching Pirates have performed 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. When the Marching Pirates travel the cost of transportation, meals and lodging is provided by the university. All travel is expense paid! Music, instruments, and uniforms are provided at no cost, and there is no fundraising. Each member is assessed a $40 membership fee which covers the cost of band member shirts and social activities throughout the season. Please take time to search through this website and check back often for updates. If you have questions regarding membership, please contact Dr. Christopher Knighten, Director of the ECU Marching Pirates, at knightenc@ecu.edu. Go Pirates! |
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"A Commitment To Excellence!" |
