Green Wave Brass Band - Sugar Bowl Parade LP Pre-Order

Tulane University's Green Wave Brass Band went into the studio in the Spring of 2023 to record a special project to celebrate the return of a very special Tulane University Marching Band bass drum head from 1932 by a descendant of Godfrey Hirsch! Hirsch was a section leader in the band when they played USC in the Rose Bowl and went on to become a drummer and arranger for legendary New Orleans clarinetist, Pete Fountain. 

1932 Calf Skin Bass Drum Head

While in Pete Fountain's band, Hirsch wrote a tune called "Sugar Bowl Parade" that became the theme song for the famous college football bowl game held annually in New Orleans. When Hirsch's grandson gifted this painted calf-skin drum head back to the band, we decided to learn and record this classic piece of New Orleans and Tulane history. Junior clarinetist Sona Shirinian shines in this version of Sugar Bowl Parade and other New Orleans brass band standards along with the 2022-23 Green Wave Brass Band.

We are working with New Orleans Record Press to produce a limited run of vinyl for this very special project that you can purchase for your collection and listen to the sounds of Tulane! The vinyl package will include a standard 33 1/3 rpm 12" black vinyl pressed at New Orleans Record Press, a full-color sleeve, and download card in a plastic wrap. Estimated cost is $35-50 depending on how many pre-orders are placed.

Own this limited edition piece of Tulane history! Reserve your pressing today!

#RollWave

Track Listing:

1. Tulane University Fight Song - Klein

2. Sugar Bowl Parade - Hirsch

3. Grazing in the Grass - Hou

4. Mercy Mercy Mercy - Zawinul

5. Mardi Gras in New Orleans - Byrd/Terry

6. Keep Your Head Up - Jaffe

7. Bourbon Street Parade - Barbarin

8. Tornado Special/Lil’ Liza Jane - Rebirth/Black American Traditional

2022-23 Green Wave Brass Band

Cody Woods, Luanna Fajardo, Claire Reifschneider - Trumpet

Kyle Peeples, Heather Penton, Samuel Tyree, Jared Kessler - Trombone

Willa Rudnick, David Hart IV, Damien Cameron - Saxophone

Sona Shirinian - Clarinet

Dakota Wilburn, Samuel Tyree - Sousaphone

Christopher Tamburin, William Weber, Erin Fawbush, Patrick Carter, Mads Fiedler - Percussion

Andrew Szypula - Director

Andy Bower - Director and Producer

Recorded at Marigny Studios

Engineered by Adam Keil

Mixed and Mastered at Artisound Studios by Keenan McRae

Special Thanks to Tulane University, School of Liberal Arts, Newcomb Music Department, Tulane Bands, Barry Spanier, Dylan Parrilla-Koester, Anna Wildes, Tyler Hawk, Michael Batt and all of our 2023 Give Green supporters!

2024 Call for Mardi Gras Volunteers!

Calling all TUMB friends, family, alumni, and fans!

The TUMB rolls in some of the biggest Mardi Gras parades in the world, marching over 20 miles each parade season and often performing for over 1 Million spectators!

It takes a team to get the band safely down the parade route and our volunteers are a crucial part of our operation.  Primary duties include assisting with crowd control, distributing water and snacks to the members, loading/unloading equipment, and other small tasks.

Click the Button below to learn more and sign up for the 2024 Mardi Gras Season!

2024 Parade Schedule

Friday, February 2 - Krewe of Cleopatra, Uptown New Orleans (TUMB)

Saturday, February 10 - Mystics of Time, Mobile, AL (TUMB)

Monday, February 12 - Krewe of Orpheus, Uptown New Orleans (TUMB)

Give Green 2023 - A Day For The Audacious

Tulane University’s sixth annual giving day is here! On March 21, 2023, Tulanians from all over the world will come together in support of the university’s mission to strengthen our impacts and achieve our missions!

Tulane Bands has had its busiest year ever and we are not finished! In a year that included 8 home football games including hosting the American Athletic Conference Football Championship, a road upset of the University of Houston, a miraculous win over the USC Trojans in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, 6 appearances in Mardi Gras parades, a brass band performance at the Washington, D.C. Mardi Gras, and an appearance on American Idol, Tulane Bands has far outperformed expectations and all of these extra performances come with a lot of extra financial needs! Busses, meals, plane tickets, hotels, and staffing needs have risen exponentially this year and we want this trend of success to continue!

Give Green is an opportunity for YOU to directly support Tulane Bands in a fun and easy way! Visiting our Give Green site and joining our list of donors helps us raise funds for future projects including expanding our digital reach via livestreaming programs and professional recordings! The Big Green Grand Prize is awarded to the unit with the most individual gifts, so even the minimum donation goes a long way toward some huge additional prizes!

Spread the word, be in that number, and support Tulane Bands today by Giving Green!

Mardi Gras 2023 Recap

SLA Dean Brian Edwards with the TUMB Trumpets

It was one of our busiest Carnival seasons yet with the TUMB marching in four Mardi Gras parades including the Superkrewe of Bacchus! We were honored to be the lead band in several parades this year, and proudly cheered on our Green Wave football team who rode in the Krewe of Freret on a tandem Green Wave float!

The Soundwave Pep Band returned to the Krewe of King Arthur on first Sunday and the Green Wave Brass Band performed in the Barkus Parade behind Councilwoman Helena Moreno and her dog, Nacho!

We had many special guests join us on the parade route, from Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, Brian Edwards, to Tulane University President Mike Fitts! We also need to thank Tulane University’s E.E. Biology Department for once again lending us their pickup truck to use as our support vehicle, and TUPD for providing an escort during the uptown parades.

Tulane University President Mike Fitts shares a “ROLL WAVE!” with the TUMB - Photo by Marc Pagani

Our Krewe of Production Assistants helped us feed and the band and volunteers before step off and kept them fueled and hydrated on the route by passing out water and granola bars. As always, we had a huge group of volunteers helping us get down the route, including one portion of the Rex Parade where they were literally helping us get our support vehicle down the route when it overheated!

And last, but certainly not least, YOU! The fans, revelers, spectators, students, families, friends, and folks that make everything we do at Tulane Bands worth it!

Local photographer Marc Pagani followed the TUMB in the Bacchus Parade and captured some incredible photos! To view his gallery or purchase a print, visit the link below!

---

COMING UP! Tulane University’s “Give Green - A Day for the Audacious” is Tuesday, March 21! You can be in that number and support many of Tulane Bands goals for the coming year by giving green! Visit our give green page for more info!

Winter 2023 Newsletter - A Season Like No Other

The “Band Together” Newsletter Winter 2023 Edition is now published! Read about the highlights of our fall season including Band Camp, the return of the TUMB Road Trip, Alumni Band, Band Day, and the Green Wave’s historic AAC and Cotton Bowl Championships!

2023 Call for Mardi Gras Volunteers!

Calling all TUMB friends, family, alumni, and fans!

The TUMB rolls in some of the biggest Mardi Gras parades in the world, marching over 20 miles each parade season and often performing for over 1 Million spectators!

It takes a team to get the band safely down the parade route and our volunteers are a crucial part of our operation.  Primary duties include assisting with crowd control, distributing water and snacks to the members, loading/unloading equipment, and other small tasks.

Click the Botton below to learn more and sign up for the 2023 Mardi Gras Season!

2023 Parades

Friday, February 10 - Krewe of Excalibur, Metairie, 6:30PM

Friday, February 17 - Krewe d’Etat, Uptown, 6:30PM

Sunday, February 19 - Krewe of Bacchus, Uptown, 5:15PM

Tuesday, February 21 - Krewe of Rex, Uptown, 11AM

Sign Up for Band Day 2022!

Every year the Tulane University Marching Band hosts Band Day, offering high school and middle school groups the opportunity of a lifetime to perform with the TUMB at Yulman Stadium!   Band Day is open to bands (including color guards, dance teams, and twirlers) and choirs of any skill level.  Participants rehearse in sections with TUMB members and instructors as well as section members in other participating schools.  All groups receive a digital photo of the large ensemble to commemorate the event and to share with students, families, and administrators.

GET IN ON THE ACTION!

We'd love to have your group perform with us! Fill out the form below to let us know you’re coming.  Any questions can be directed to Barry Spanier at bspanier@tulane.edu.

Alumni Band 2022

Calling all TUMB Alumni!

The Homecoming matchup between the RANKED #25 Tulane Green Wave and the Memphis Tigers The Alumni Band will take the field with the TUMB for a performance of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” as part of our “Louisiana At The GRAMMYs” Halftime Show.

You can join us on the field by visiting the Alumni Band page by clicking the link below and filling out the RSVP form! You will receive a link to the Alumni Band music and a discount code for your guests to purchase a ticket in the band section. Alumni must wear TUMB Floral Shirt for entry into Yulman Stadium.

---

Tulane Bands at the World Expo in Dubai

See the archived program from our trip to Expo 2020 Dubai by clicking below!

TUMB Returns to Mardi Gras 2022

The time to break out the costumes and devour King Cakes is upon us, and the Tulane University Marching Band is proud to announce its return to the St Charles parade route for Mardi Gras 2022! The City of New Orleans has been working incredibly hard to make Mardi Gras parades a safe experience for all. Mayor Latoya Cantrell, touting the city’s 92% rate of vaccine initiated residents, has promised that Mardi Gras parades will roll this year after a year off in 2021. The TUMB will take extra precautions and adjust their normal Carnival operations to ensure a safe experience for our members, volunteers, staff, and for the community!

Catch the TUMB on the modified Uptown Parade Route in the following parades. Click on each link for the exact route and more parade information!

Krewe of Cleopatra - Friday, February 18

Krewe d’Etat - Friday, February 25

Krewe of Thoth - Sunday, February 27

Krewe of Rex - Tuesday, March 1

Barry Spanier Moderates Webinar, Podcast on Hosting the Olympics

The Tokyo Olympics are set to begin on July 23, despite many challenges facing the organizers. As a veteran of Olympic Ceremonies (Los Angeles 1984 and Sydney 2000), Director of Bands Barry Spanier is participating in two online events this Tuesday that explore behind-the-scenes of planning Olympic Ceremonies and the dynamics of hosting the Games.

The “Plug-In Webinar” features Tulane colleagues from various academic disciplines, presented live at 12:00pm CDT. Register in advance HERE, or view a recording of the event at a later time/date of your choosing.

The “Podcast: On Good Authority” will be launched and available to view anytime HERE.

Introducing: Tulane Bands

Tulane University has a rich history of music ensembles. From its beginnings in 1920, the Tulane University Band has been a vibrant presence for the campus and community. The modern Tulane University Marching Band (TUMB) began in 2005 under the direction of Barry Spanier, following a successful effort by the Soundwave Pep Band to re-establish an official marching band program after a long hiatus that began when the Green Wave football team started playing in the Superdome in 1975.

The TUMB has been the flagship music ensemble at Tulane, performing for over 1 million people annually at Green Wave football games and in the biggest New Orleans Mardi Gras parades. Over the past 16 years the program has grown to become much more than a marching band. In addition to the TUMB, it also fields the Shockwave Dance Team, Green Wave Brass Band, Soundwave Pep Band, Color Guard, Concert Band, Green Wave Winds, and Percussion Ensemble.  The program also produces and hosts various events throughout Tulane and the Greater New Orleans community with groups such as Kappa Kappa Psi, District VI Band Directors Association, WorldStrides, and The Roots of Music. 

To reflect our growth as an organization that now produces many ensembles spanning a variety of performance mediums, the Tulane University Marching Band program is now “Tulane Bands.” The TUMB and all of our other ensembles will reside within Tulane Bands. This is more than a re-branding. This is a commitment to moving forward in a dramatically new social landscape. This is a promise to be a driving force for the performing arts at Tulane and in New Orleans. We will continue to develop artistic skills as we embrace the cultural significance of the City of New Orleans. We will partner with our communities to share resources and work for equality in access to performing arts education.

Introducing: Tulane Bands

The marching trumpet silhouette recalls our previous “TUMB” wordmark with a new modern, more sleek look, outlined by an abstract of the Tulane University official shield. A variety of secondary logos will feature a different shield abstract to outline various text.

We hope you will continue to follow us as we move past the COVID-19 Pandemic into a new academic year, as we come Back to Tulane, Forward for New Orleans!

ROLL WAVE!

International Women's Day 2021

This #internationalwomensday we take a moment to celebrate the many powerful #women who have come through our band program. From women in leadership positions to those on the sidelines and everywhere in between, the TUMB owes a lot to its female members!

#iwd #iwd2021 #rollwave #womeninpower

View our “Who Run The World?” Halftime Show from Fall 2019 below!

Mardi Gras WaveStarter Campaign a Huge Success

In parallel with our VirTUal Mardi Gras 2021 presentations, the TUMB hosted a WaveStarter fundraising campaign from February 2-16.  The initial goal of $20K was dramatically surpassed in the final days for a grand total to $27,976!!!  This is the most successful focused campaign in the TUMB’s modern history, putting the organization in position to acquire new equipment and instruments for our students to excel on the field, in parades and in the concert hall.  We are very grateful to our many donors - alumni, family, colleagues, students and friends - who generously contributed to the effort.  Special thanks to our colleagues in the Office of Advancement for their guidance, support and teamwork!

Watch the VirTUal Mardi Gras performance below!

TUMB and the Louisiana Promise

The TUMB is committed to Tulane’s initiatives to increase diversity and enrollment in Tulane from the great state of Louisiana. Check out some of the details in the video below!

Fall Semester Like No Other Requires Innovative Performances

Due to COVID-19 restrictions on the national and local level, the TUMB pre-recorded all of its performances to be released in a “VirTUal” setting. Head over to the TUMB YouTube Channel to view our fall content!

TUMB VirTUal Halftime Performances!

As Yulman Stadium remains closed to the public on GameDay, the TUMB still shows up in their own unique way! Follow us on social media @tulaneuband (using the buttons at the bottom of the page!) for GameDay content and watch out for the premiere of our very first VirTUal Halftime Performance!

TUMB Statement in Response to the Leadership of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx

Tulane University Marching Band Statement in response to the leadership of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx:

The Tulane University Marching Band holds itself to values of equity and justice for all people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow marching organizations who have decided not to participate in Mystic Krewe of Nyx events in response to the krewe’s positions on racial justice in a modern world. The TUMB supports the local majority-Black schools including the Southern University “Human Jukebox,” St Augustine High School, St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory School, and all thirteen KIPP schools in greater New Orleans that have publicly stood up to injustice and supports all marching organizations that share these values.

The TUMB believes Black Lives Matter and will not accept any invitations to participate in Mystic Krewe of Nyx events under their current leadership. We support the newly-formed Krewe of Themis and their missions of feminism and social justice, and we look forward to a more inclusive Carnival season in 2021.

Signed,

Barry P. Spanier, Director of Bands, Tulane University

Mendel Lee, Assistant Director of Bands, Tulane University

Andrew K. Szypula, Assistant Director of Bands, Tulane University