By Rachel Knight
If music is the universal language, then music played by the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band is the universal Aggie dialect. Since the first Aggie Band was formed with just 13 members in 1894, the music of Aggieland has delighted countless listeners.
The Aggie Band celebrates its 125th anniversary, or quasquicentennial, this year. Though the band has grown in size to about 380 to 400 members, the marching style, the kind of music played, and the fact that every member of the band is a volunteer in the Corps of Cadets remains the same.
By staying true to its roots, the Aggie Band not only embodies the Aggie Spirit, but amplifies it at all of its public performances, according to Dr. Timothy Rhea, director of bands and head of music activities.
“You think back to the roots of the school, it was an all military organization, and we, [the band], still are,” Rhea says. “We’re the only collegiate band that still performs exclusively in the military fashion. It upholds the great traditions of the university in that way.”
The importance of music on campus was realized in 1893 as students began to vocalize their desire for an organized music group associated with the university. The Battalion, Texas A&M’s student newspaper, published a letter written by R. L. Dinwiddie on Oct. 1, 1893, expressing the student body’s musical desires.
“There is not a student here who does not love music, and it would make him feel proud to think that we could make fine music, and he would come to hear us wherever we might play; for there is nothing that can produce the same effect that music can,” Dinwiddie’s letter reads.
Shortly after Dinwiddie’s l
etter was published, the campus bugler and cobbler, Joseph Holick, approached President Sullivan Ross requesting permission to start a band, according to The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, a book by Donald and Mary Jo Powell. Ross agreed to let Holick solicit membership for a cadet band. The 13 member group made its first public performance the following year, and Aggie Band excellence has been a tradition ever since.
Col. Jay Brewer, senior associate director of the Aggie Band, says the band really is the pulse of the spirit of Aggieland today. “I certainly appreciate our fans, and our fans go nuts,” he shares. “You just listen to the 12th Man when I’m up in the press box and I say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, now forming…’ these people echo that. If they didn’t like it, if they didn’t appreciate it, they wouldn’t do that. It’s just a very unique experience for these young people.”
Experiencing a halftime performance by the nationally famous band is as much about the visual performance as it is the music thanks to the band’s precision marching style. This marching style was developed by Lieutenant Colonel E. V. Adams, who directed the band from 1946 to 1973.
In 1947, Adams developed the criss-cross and its later variations, which are now the band’s most anticipated maneuvers. Other band directors say the maneuver is impossible because it requires two band members to be in the same place at the same time, according to the Powell’s book.
Though the maneuver is exceptionally difficult, the Aggie Band makes it look as effortless as the rest of their unique drills. Performing at such a high level each week creates a unique bond, a sense of accomplishment, and sense of greater ability, Brewer says. “When they do things that they’re not real sure they’re capable of doing, like marching in front of 100,000 people doing a new drill every week, that’s a lot of stress on a bunch of 18- to 20-year-olds, but they do it and they do it in fine fashion.”
Part of the uniqueness of the Aggie Band experience stems from the fact that its members do more than just play and march together. “They live together, which I don’t know that any other band in the country does that,” Rhea says. “They are more of a family. There’s a friendship and a bond established from going through the organization, and they remain in touch and close throughout their lifetime.”
Brewer experiences the uniqueness of friendships formed in the band firsthand as a former member of the Aggie Band, and as senior associate director. He says he is looking forward to catching up with classmates and former students during the 125th Aggie Band Celebration from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3. During the game that weekend, the Aggie Band will perform a special march, The Quasquicentennial March, written by Rhea.
The significance of celebrating 125 years of the Aggie Band rests in the organization’s ability to produce company men and women, Brewer says. “I believe because of what you experience in the Texas Aggie Band both on the field and perhaps even more so off the field, it helps prepare young people to be good citizens, to go out and make a positive difference in this world,” he explains. “I believe that’s what Texas Aggies ought to do and I believe that’s what Texas Aggies ought to do better than anyone else.”
A New Place to Form: The Music Activities Center When the Music Activities Center opens at Texas A&M University this fall, the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band will have its first indoor practice in 10 years.
The $42.5 million project will provide a proper home for all the ensembles at Texas A&M.
The 70,000-square-foot John D. White ’70 — Robert L. Walker ’58 Music Activities Center is made up of three main things — rehearsal spaces, storage spaces, and offices, according to Dr. Timothy Rhea, director of bands and head of music activities.
“It was designed specifically for the unique needs of the music activities organizations here at A&M,” Rhea explains. “We have no school of music like most schools do, and yet we have an outstanding music program of ensembles. ... We have about 1,300 students per year who play in our different ensembles, and this new facility was designed distinctly for the needs of those organizations.”
Col. Jay Brewer, senior associate director of the Aggie Band, says the new space meets all the needs of students involved in music activities on campus in one location for the first time in the university’s history. “This has been something in the making for 25 years,” he says. “Music activities represents students of all walks on this campus; some that, obviously are in the Corps of Cadets in the marching band, most that are not. We have a facility now that we’ll be able to offer more things, including future organizations that we don’t even know about yet, or we haven’t even started yet.”
Special features in the new facility include an artificial turf field that will serve as the new drill field for the Aggie Band, rehearsal spaces designed to fit the individual needs of various music groups on campus, student offices, conference rooms, and music libraries. “It is just uniquely structured for the needs of our performing organizations at Texas A&M University,” Rhea says. “There is not another building quite like it anywhere in the country.”
The Music Activities Center has a grand opening ceremony scheduled for August 30. The event includes special remarks from President Young, Chancellor Sharp, the building’s namesakes, and current students. More details will be available closer to the date of the event online at www.musa.tamu.edu.
