Solid Gold Sound Club Newsletter

Solid Gold Sound Club Newsletter
The official UCLA support organization for the UCLA Bruin Marching Band
Summer 2012
Band Alumni Reunion 2012
The 12th Biennial Band Alumni Reunion will be held
at halftime of the UCLA vs. Utah football game on
Saturday, October 13th at the Rose Bowl. Plans call
for the rehearsal to be held on a parking lot adjacent
to the RoseBowl beginning 3 1⁄2 hours before game
time (yet to be announced).
At the 2010 Band Alumni Reunion, the Band is led onto the
field by former “Golden Girls” Amy Arellano and Debbie
Campanelli Simek
Immediately after the rehearsal, we will have HUNDREDS of
items from the Band’s Adidas allotment as free giveaways to all
band alumni who attend! Items will include shoes, backpacks,
jackets, sweatshirts, shorts and shirts!!!
Michele Chan Free, in her official Olympic AllAmerican Band uniform, at the 2004 Band Alumni
Reunion that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the
Los Angeles Olympics
We will be sending out registration forms later this summer, so
mark your calendars and make plans to be there! A medley of
beach music, “California Girls,” “Wipeout” and “Surf City,”
will be the featured song, and yes, the combined UCLA Band and
alumni drummers will play the famous drum solo on “Wipeout.”
The alumni who travel the furthest distance and who represent the earliest UCLA class will receive special awards
and will be introduced to the Rose Bowl audience as part of the halftime show. Let’s make this one the biggest
Reunion ever!
Feature Twirlers return for Fall 2012
Both of our Feature Twirlers,
Rejoyce Green from Palm
Springs and Michelle Glymph
from Torrance, will return this
fall for their sophomore season.
Last fall was the first time the
Band had Feature Twirlers in
almost a decade, and their presence has added a new dynamic
to the Band’s performances.
Michelle Glymph
ReJoyce Green
Welcome New Assistant Director Kelly Flickinger
Dr. Kelly Flickinger is entering his first year as the Assistant Director of
the Bruin Marching Band. He previously served as the Head Percussion
Instructor and Arranger from 2007 to 2010. Under Flickinger’s direction,
the Drumline has performed with Linkin Park and Paula Abdul, and was
featured on Vicfirth.com. In 2010, Flickinger designed a Drumline performance for the 27th Annual Ekitopia Festival Parade in Nagoya, Japan.
From 2008 to 2011, Flickinger taught Percussion Methods at UCLA, and
in 2012 he was a Guest Conductor with the Symphonic Band. This year he
will be teaching applied percussion to music education majors.
Assistant Director Kelly Flickinger
From 2008 to 2010, Flickinger served as a percussion instructor for Pacific
Crest Drum and Bugle Corps. He has taught and arranged for numerous high schools throughout Southern California, including the nine-time
SCSBOA champion William S. Hart High School. His travels have taken
him to Thailand on several occasions, where he has served as a clinician
for schools throughout the country. In addition to UCLA, he has served
as Percussion Instructor or Arranger for the University of Nevada, Reno
Wolf Pack Marching Band and the Central Washington University Wildcat
Marching Band. Flickinger has performed throughout the United States, as well as Canada, Hong Kong, and Japan. He was a member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, Black Knights Drum Corps, and Esperanza Drum and
Bugle Corps. Recently, he performed on “American Idol” with James Durbin and appeared on stage with Kelly
Clarkson, John Legend, Robin Thicke, and Jennifer Nettles on the ABC show “Duets.”
Flickinger recently received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from UCLA. His dissertation
is entitled “Music as a Gradual Lostness: A Performer’s Guide to the Phase Music of Steve Reich.” New TAMA Marching Percussion Instruments
The UCLA Drumline will be performing on TAMA Drums beginning this fall. With guidance from DCI Hall of
Famer and UCLA Band alumnus Tom Float, TAMA has designed marching percussion instruments with innovative
features that have set a new standard of excellence.
The UCLA Drumline will continue to perform on Remo drum heads, Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth sticks and
mallets.
The new TAMA and REMO Bass Drum Head
Snare Drummer Ken Tewell
Downfall of Troy Show 2011
It has become a tradition to perform the band’s famous “Downfall of Troy” Show once every four years, which
gives everyone who stays in the Band four or more years an opportunity to perform this show.
The show was first dreamed up in 1984 as a way to remind everyone how ridiculous it is for USC to use a horse as
an emblem since it was the Trojan Horse that caused Troy’s downfall.
The Trojan Navy approaches Troy
Menelaus, King of Sparta,
played by Wesley Mercado,
and Helen, played by
senior Drum Major Jessica
Schlosser
The Trojans knock down the King and
capture Helen
The battle gets personal
The battle continues
The Trojan Horse enters the city
Ten Greeks who were hiding in the Horse open the gates and
signal for the Greeks to rush in
The Greeks surround the defeated Trojans
Photos from the Fall 2011 Season
Tenor Drummer Stephen Hufford
Flautist Amanda Michael
Mellophone Player Meghan Truax
Trumpet Andrew Levin
Senior Drum Major
Jess Schlosser
Senior Drum Major
Justin Grant
UCLA Basketball “Road Show”
The UCLA Band made its presence known at each stop of the basketball team’s “Road Show.” Games were played
this past season in Ontario, the Honda Center in Anaheim and the Sports Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
Although the time commitment to play at a game lasted from six to seven hours due to travel time compared to the
usual two and a half hours for an on-campus game, the Band had great turnouts, and actually was larger than during the previous season in Pauley Pavilion, and often outnumbered the rest of the student body!
Look for an expanded role for the Band in the “new” Pauley Pavilion during the upcoming basketball season.
The Band performing before the Arizona State game at the Honda Center
The Band performing with the UCLA Dance Team at halftime of the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim.
Pac-12 Championship Game
Over 200 members of the Bruin Marching Band accompanied the team to Eugene, Oregon to play at the inaugural
Pac-12 Conference Championship Game versus the Oregon Ducks on December 2, 2011. After a below-freezing
rehearsal the night before the game with the Oregon Band, the two bands performed together during the Pregame
Show on a medley of Lady Gaga songs.
Bundled up for the night rehearsal with the Oregon Band
The combined Pregame Show with the Oregon Band
The Trombone Section warming up before the game
The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
For the trip to San Francisco to perform as a pep band at the
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, about 120 members traveled from
Los Angeles, and another 50 who live in the Bay Area met
us there. The Band’s hotel was just two blocks from Pier 39,
so band members had an easy time hitting all the sights the
night before the game. This was UCLA’s second appearance at
this bowl, which is held at AT&T Park, the home of the San
Francisco Giants baseball team.
The Drumline at AT&T Park
The Sousaphone Section warming up next to the Willie McCovey
statue next to At&T Park
Brass and Woodwinds inside At&T Park
Alumni Profile — James and Terri Coomes
In the summer of 1989, James Coomes began his journey
as a Bruin by playing a few scales and doing some sightreading on trombone for former Assistant Band Director
Jennifer Judkins in Schoenberg Music Building. That tryout began a relationship with the Solid Gold Sound that
continues to this day. James played in the Bruin Marching
Band and the pep bands from 1989 through 1994. During
that time, he was awarded the Glenn Katz Freshman of the
Year award (presumably for beating senior drum major Tim
Close in a 100-yard dash during field practice), served as a
Rank Leader and a member of the Recruitment Staff, performed in pep bands for men’s and women’s basketball and
volleyball, played in five Band Bowls, coached a women’s
intramural band flag football team and became a member of Terri and James with their son Ethan and daughter Mia
the Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi.
While in school, James worked for the United Spirit Association as a drum major instructor and camp director as
well as with the University as a Campus Security Officer. It was also in school that he met his future spouse, Terri
Segura, through an introduction by a fellow band member. While Terri was not initially in the marching band,
she later marched as part of the cymbal line. Concerned that dating someone in band might bring bad luck to the
football and basketball teams, James told Terri that they might have to break things off. After eight straight wins
against USC in football and an NCAA men’s basketball championship, James and Terri married in 1999.
After receiving a BA in 1994, James continued at UCLA with the School of Social Welfare (now the Luskin School
of Public Affairs) and went on to work for the County of Los Angeles. James also began his volunteer career with
UCLA, joining alumni Tom Kluksdahl and Carl Miller on the Marching Band’s Video Crew. The video crew’s
primary responsibilities are to record pregame, halftime and ancillary footage for practice purposes, publicity and
public relations for both the Band and the University, and to archive the history of the Bruin Marching Band.
Careerwise, James worked as a children’s social worker specializing in adoptions for the LA County Department
of Children and Family Services, and then in a variety of roles with the County’s Department of Mental Health.
In 2007, James became the program manager for the Olive View Community Mental Health Urgent Care Center,
which is a Proposition 63 Mental Health Services Act-funded crisis mental health center located in Sylmar, CA.
In 2009, James was asked to serve the Solid Gold Sound in a slightly different capacity, taking on the role of Band
Announcer. This role, which in recent years has been held by Andrew Green, Eric Rager and Greg Oatey, has
given James the opportunity to develop an even closer relationship with the Solid Gold Sound as well as the college
marching band community. In 2011, James helped to found the Association of Marching Band Announcers with
legends Albert Locher (Berkeley), Dennis Packer (USC), and Scott Barkhurst (Oregon), as a way for current and
former college marching band announcers to network with each other.
James and Terri now live in Burbank with their two children,
Mia (age 10) and Ethan (age 8). They regularly attend UCLA
football games with James in the pressbox. James continues
to work in Sylmar at the crisis center, and Terri is a 5th grade
teacher at St. Robert’s Elementary School in Burbank. Both Mia
and Ethan have their hearts set on following in their parents’
footsteps at UCLA, although Mia is more interested in softball
and volleyball. There is still hope for Ethan to carry on the legacy
and possibly earn a Glenn Katz award himself.
Terri and James with Joe Bruin at the UCLA vs.
Notre Dame football game in South Bend, Indiana
in 2006
“Being a member of this organization as a student opened up a
world of possibilities and friendships that I may have never had,”
James says. “After graduating, volunteering for the Solid Gold
Sound for the past 18 years has been equally rewarding. I hope
to continue doing this for many years to come.”
Fall 2012 Football Season Performances
After bringing pep bands to the Rose Bowl for the first two games this fall, the full band will perform as part of
the Band Day show at the Oregon State game on September 22nd. Over 30 high school bands will join the Bruin
Marching Band at halftime to perform “Bruin Fanfare,” UCLA fight songs and “America the Beautiful.”
Instead of a full band trip to the Bay Area, about 160 members will perform as a pep band at the Cal game on
October 6th, and about 100 members will perform in the stands at the Arizona State game on October 27th.
The Utah game on October 13th will feature the 12th Biennial Band Alumni Reunion, which is described in this
Newsletter’s opening story. Following that game, if the game time is not too late in the day, the Band will appear in
exhibition at the Rowland High School Field Tournament as a continuing part of our recruiting efforts. This event
will mark the premiere performance of the Band’s Queen Show, which will include “We Will Rock You,” “Don’t
Stop Me Now,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The Arizona game on November 3rd will
feature patriotic music including “Stars and
Stripes Forever,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
of Company B,” and the “Armed Forces
Medley.” For the USC game on November
17th, the Band will present the Queen show
for the first time this fall at the Rose Bowl.
Plans are currently being formulated for the
Stanford game halftime show on November
24th, but we are considering a “Karaoke
Show” — the audience would sing along
with the band with words posted on the videoboard! Tell us your favorite Karaoke songs!
Fergie, member of the rock group Black-Eyed Peas, and actor Josh
Duhamel hanging out with band members on the sideline before halftime
of the 2011 ASU game.
Solid Gold Sound Club Board of Directors
Trombonist Charlie Hall
UCLA Bands
Box 951616
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1616
(310) 825-3835
www.band.ucla.edu
Email: [email protected]
Robert Milford, President
Ron Logan
Peter Dames
Richard and Kathy Martin
Rebecca Gottlieb
Michael O’Gara
Michael Hanson
Mary Park
Nancy Ishiki
Jeff Pickett
Joe and Heidi Hardman
Matt Sonefeldt
Chris Holbert
Brad Sraberg
Rob Joyner
Kim Strutt
Brian Kushnir
Andrew Yonce