Just this past weekend, over 1,900 high schoolers from across New England gathered on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus to participate in Band Day, an annual Amherst, Massachusetts event that provides high schoolers the opportunity to see for themselves just how Powerful and Classy marching band can be at the college level. 

Imagine this: you’re lazily gazing out the band bus window, a chilly aura emanating from the window by your face. It’s the earlier hours of the morning, the sound of the school bus rumbling down the highway is drowned out by the earbuds in your ears. 

It feels like any other weekend performance with your high school band… Until the bus pulled off the freeway, a neon green street sign with “UMass Amherst” written across it flying by your very window. 

Next thing you know, you are passing by beautiful fall foliage separated by wide open fields, some left largely empty for crops, others with fenced-in areas for various farm animals. A common sight in Western Massachusetts. 

Eventually, the bus slows as it pulls into McGuirk Stadium and the faint sound of cheering grows louder the closer the bus gets to the curb. People are looking around now, searching for the source of the cheers.

Finally the bus rolls to a stop, a much more prominent “Welcome to Band Day!!” greeting you as you step off of the bus. UMass Band members are gathered by the doors jumping and cheering, giving your school a very warm UMass Welcome despite the brisk Autumn air. 

This is an experience that over 1,900 high school students hailing from all over New England had this past Saturday! 

Hosted by the UMass Minuteman Marching Band (known as the UMMB for short), Band Day got its founding in the early 1980s, with only three local bands attending its debut event. And having hosted this event pretty much every year except for 2020, UMass now regularly has upwards of 40 bands attend each year. 

Today, Band Day is an exciting, music-filled annual event that almost 2,000 high school students attend each year with their own band programs. Here, students get the opportunity of playing alongside UMass Marching Band members on the field both in rehearsal and performance at a live UMass Amherst Football game! Not only do they get to experience what it’s like to be a part of the UMass Minutemen Marching Band, but they also get to work with current members of the ensemble all day and can have those special moments that might even inspire them to be in the band itself years down the line. 

This was the case with current member of the band Beth Monahan! She attended Band Day years ago as a high schooler and is now a proud member of the UMMB Trumpet Section, affectionately referred to as the “Hogline.” 

When asked about their Band Day experience as a high schooler, she described it as “being the coolest thing in the world,” going on to explain that “being able to see a college band and they work,” as well as “being able to play alongside them, it was just the coolest thing ever.”

“Staying and watching their Post-Game show was eye-opening because I came from a band of like 60 people, so seeing 400 people march like that? Oh my god, it was amazing.” - Beth Monahan, Current UMMB Trumpet

This year, Band Day was High School Musical themed, so for the Half-time show, the UMass Band had a blast playing “Bet On It” before the high school students joined them on the field to play “Can I Have This Dance” and “We’re All In This Together.” 

To close out the game, the UMMB, led by Director Timothy T. Anderson, stormed the field and performed their Post-Game show for all of the visiting students. This year, it consists of a Bruno Mars Medley, excerpts from The Planets by Gustav Holst, and a Chick Corea percussion feature featuring Spain and Night Streets. It was definitely a sight to behold, with around 400 members having a ton of fun and playing their hearts out on the field! Of course, per UMMB tradition, the night ended with the heartfelt playing of My Way by the band, in honor of late Director of the program George N. Parks.