After a year hiatus, the Summer Concert Band is back and we already have a schedule tentatively planned out.  Here are the details.

Our first summer concert is scheduled for Wednesday, June 23rd at 7:00 pm at Centennial Lakes in Edina. Rehearsals for the first concert will begin on Wednesday, May 26, and continue for the next three weeks; June 2, 9 and 16.

Our second concert is scheduled for Tuesday, July 27th. We will be performing at Bryant Square Park in Minneapolis. Rehearsals for this concert will begin on Wednesday, June 30, and continue on July 7, 14, and Tuesday, July 20 (note that Wednesday, July 21, is the night of the Aquatennial Torchlight Parade).

Rehearsals will be held in the main rehearsal hall at TCF Ban(d)k Stadium. Times are not set yet, but expect them to be somewhere in the 6:30-8:30 neighborhood. We are looking at scheduling some sort of social event either before or after one (or possibly more) rehearsals, so stay tuned for that.

If you are interested in playing for either concert (or both), please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it so that we can prepare music accordingly.

Attention Artists and Graphic Designers! The Band Alumni Society is accepting proposals for a new design for the lithograph awarded to 4th-year Marching Band members.

In 1995, the Band Alumni commissioned an artwork, reproduced as lithographs, to award marching band members who have completed their 4^th year in the band.  We have been giving these lithographs out for about 15 years, and have come to the end of the original supply.  We definitely want to continue honoring those students in this way.  While we could reprint the original artwork, our intent was to reflect the spirit of the students in band - with an expectation that a given visual would last about 10 years.  So, it’s time for a new artwork.  We are sure there are several artistic people affiliated with the band, and we would like to hear ideas from those people.  If you are interested in creating the next Lithograph artwork, read on...

We will entertain all proposals submitted by Saturday, May 1^st. These proposals do not need to be the final artwork, but should have enough substance that we could envision the final product.  We would like to select the best proposal in early May so the artist has time to complete it by August.  Our goal is to have new lithographs printed by the 2010 Marching Band Banquet in the first week of December.

The artwork should show what it means to be in the University of Minnesota Marching Band.  It should be general enough that it will continue to reflect that spirit for the next 5 to 10 years, and should apply to all participants (winds, drum line, color guard).  The previous artwork was a watercolor with dimensions of 22x28.  The new artwork does not need to follow suit – any reasonable medium and size will be considered.

Please direct submissions and/or questions to Ellen Sorenson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Thank you!

As part of the mission of the U. of M. Band Alumni Society is to support all the University of Minnesota ensemble groups, here is the Spring concert schedule.  Please note that all the concerts will be held at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on the West Bank campus.

• Wednesday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m. - Symphonic Band and University Band: Song and Dance
• Thursday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. - Wind Ensemble
• Monday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. - North Star Campus Band and Maroon & Gold Campus Band
  
• Tuesday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. - Wind Ensemble
• Friday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. - Band Extravaganza! (featuring all University concert bands)
• Thursday, April 29 at 4:30 p.m. - Wind Ensemble - Part of the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference