Pride Parents' Day. Pride Parents' Day will take place on September 15 when the Sooners take on Utah State. Parents' Day is an opportunity for all Pride member's parents to take part in a gameday experience with their son or daughter. A schedule and order forms were mailed to the home address we have on file on Thursday, August 16. You may also download the information in PDF format if you did not receive the mailing. Please note that these items are very time sensitive so complete them today! We would like everyone to be able to participate! We look forward to seeing you on the 15th. Boomer Sooner!
Concert Ensemble Auditions Update. The audition schedule for concert ensemble auditions has been finalized and is available for you to view. Students interested in auditioning should sign up for an audition slot on the bulletin board between the band and orchestra rooms prior to auditions next week. Audition Materials for positions in the Wind Symphony, Symphony Band and Orchestra are still available for download. Please contact the band office if you have difficulty downloading the material.
Concert Ensemble Auditions. Audition Materials for positions in the Wind Symphony, Symphony Band and Orchestra are now posted. Follow the link to your instrument to print the .pdf file, which includes audition music and a newsletter with audition and calendar information. The files are approximately 9 MB in size so if you are downloading from a dial-up connection, please be advised that it will take a little while. Auditions are scheduled the first week of classes between August 20-22. Please contact the band office if you have difficulty downloading the material.
2007 Pride of Oklahoma Auditions. Auditions for the 2007 Pride of Oklahoma will begin Monday, August 13 for all members. Audition music is now available on our secure website. In order to access the secure website, prospective members must either be enrolled in marching band (MUTE 1130, sec 900) or - if enrollment is not yet possible - must provide the band office with their 4x4 (we do not need the account password). Upon login, prospective students will fill out an information profile and once the profile is completed and saved, the student will be able to access the audition files. If there is any trouble with the login, please contact the band office and we will return your email as soon as possible. Boomer Sooner!
University of Oklahoma Honors Wind Ensemble and Choir Camp. The University of Oklahoma Honors Wind Ensemble and Choir Camp brings honors music students to the beautiful university setting for professional development with faculty, conductors, and artist teachers. The groups are comprised of outstanding students from Oklahoma and Texas, grades 9-12, who achieve excellence through membership in all-state, all-area, all-region honor groups, or receive superior ratings at solo and ensemble contest. Participants may also be nominated by their director or applied teacher. Students rehearse, attend master classes/sectional rehearsals with University faculty and perform a final concert at Paul F. Sharp Hall in Catlett Music Center on the University of Oklahoma campus. For additional information, please visit our Honors Wind Ensemble and Choir website.
Wind Symphony selected to perform at regional conference. The Wind Symphony has been selected to perform for the 2008 College Band Directors National Association Southwestern Division Conference at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music on Thursday, February 28, at 8:00 p.m. CBDNA is comprised of college band conductors who focus on the advancement of bands through performance, teaching, and scholarly activity. National and regional conferences present the latest ideas and literature for the medium and are held in alternating years at selected sites. The University of Oklahoma hosted the regional conference in 1990 and 2000.
An Evening of Winds and Percussion. Monday, April 23 at 8:00 p.m., the Symphony Band and Concert Band will present their final concerts for this academic year. The Concert Band will perform Golden Point Overture, As Summer Was Just Beginning, Visions of Flight, and Invercargill. Armenian Dances (Part I), Down a Country Lane, Igor Fantasy, and Symphony in B-flat will be performed by the Symphony Band. Admission to the concert is free. Get a printer-friendly poster here. We hope to see you on the 23rd!
The Pride of Oklahoma debuted the new red uniform coats in New York City on Thanksgiving Day in the Macy's® Thanksgiving Day Parade. The previous red coats were retired after Coach's last season in 2000, and this is the first time in seven years that The Pride has appeared in public all in red. The new coats feature an interlocking "OU" logo on the front in white parquet, with "OKLAHOMA" on the sleeves in white embroidery on a black background with gray piping. They sure did look sharp on two national television broadcasts!
First up was the coverage from CBS, called the "CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade" because NBC has the rights to the name "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" and to the performances in Herald Square. The Pride appeared on CBS approximately one hour and 55 minutes after the coverage started, and showed the band playing Fight for OKU in Times Square. Here's the video from the CBS broadcast—you can hear The Pride behind an interview long before you can see them. Be sure to listen to Dave Price and Hannah Storm after the commercial break as they're unable to distinguish between Oklahoma and another Big 12 (heck, Big 8) school.
CBS's position was about 20 minutes ahead of NBC's Herald Square performance platform at the end of the parade. The Pride appeared on NBC approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes into the parade coverage, and while they definitely looked good in high-definition in those new red coats, we do wish NBC had shown more of the band members actually marching. It would have been nice to actually see those shiny new matching trombones!
Congratulations to all Pride members and staff, who should all be back in Norman by now preparing for rehearsals for Bedlam just 36 hours from when we post this. This is certainly a week they'll be talking about for many years—the members traveled over 3600 miles in the past week representing OU and Oklahoma, and those who performed in the Texas Tech band have logged an astonishing 4400 miles in just one week for The Pride. We couldn't be more proud of the way they've carried on our tradition!
