Montana
State University |
Montana
State University |
11/27/2001 BOZEMAN--The word the Montana State University band uses to describe itself is spirit, but when band director Brad Fuster first saw a group of 23 inexperienced musicians who reported to band camp two years ago, the word he used was faith.
Fuster’s faith in the Spirit of the West, the official name of the MSU marching band, will be rewarded Thursday, when the band that is now 161 musicians strong will march and play in the 75th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will air from 9-noon MDT on NBC stations in Montana. The band is one of only 10 bands to play in the parade and this is the first time that a band from Montana has marched in the famed parade.
The band is also set to appear Wednesday on the NBC Today Show. The Today Show airs from 7-9 a.m. in Montana on NBC affiliates. The band will be seen performing in two segments, as they advertise the parade the following day. Fuster said he believes students in the band will be interviewed by Today hosts Matt Lauer and Katie Couric.
The story of the band’s journey to march in one of the country’s most famous parades is reminiscent of “The Music Man.”
When Fuster came to MSU in 1999 from his graduate school program at the University of Southern California to take over the MSU band, he found a band that had dwindled to a couple dozen members. There were not enough members to march in formation so he made a plea to musicians in the community to help round out the band.
The band uniforms and instruments were in a similar state. Despite all that was not right with the band, Fuster immediately applied to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in two years. The 2001 parade that he applied for was even then slated to be the gala celebration of the parade’s 75th anniversary and expected to be the best Macy’s parade ever. Perhaps the only people not surprised when the band was accepted were Fuster and the members of the band.
First, Fuster tackled the band’s appearance. Fuster raised money to purchase new uniforms for a band that grew to 114 members in a little more than a year. The band also purchased $32,000 in new brass instruments and $2,700 in new color guard gear. Fuster introduced new arrangements and brought in clinicians from around the country to help him improve their sound.
“(The band’s) definitely come a long way,” says Fuster in understatement.
Then, the program set out to raise $240,000 to pay expenses to the trip to New York City. Band members sold Montana blankets and tickets for a raffle for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and has approached many donors. Fuster said that the band is nearing the amount needed to cover all expenses.
Despite fears that the parade may be at risk this year following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan, Fuster and members of the band say they are not worried.
“We’ve been told security will be at presidential level,” said Matthew Elliott, a senior majoring in architecture from Richland, Wash. and drum major of the band.
“The Macy’s people said they are working hard to make this the best parade they’ve ever had to help build up the nation’s morale,” Elliott said. “We’re really excited about that aspect.”
Members of the band left Sunday and will be based in Fuster’s native Long Island. In addition to practice, they will travel into New York City daily to visit many tourist attractions such as the Empire State Building, “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway and Radio City Music Hall. One day they will visit Ground Zero. A plane-load of alumni and supporters left Monday and will be enjoying the experience along with the band.
During the parade, the Spirit of the West will play music with a western theme. They will play the themes from “Silverado” and “The Cowboys” movies and “Black Saddle” television show and will end up with “Stand Up and Cheer,” MSU’s fight song.
“It’s been a lot of work to make this happen,” Elliott admits. “But, it’s been the best year of my life, far and away. There will be 20,000 people per block watching us march. Millions in total. I really am looking forward to it.”
Send questions or comments to Carol Schmidt: cschmidt@montana.edu. Or you can send letters to Carol Schmidt, MSU Communications Services, 416 Culbertson Hall, Bozeman, MT 59717.
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