University of Montana Grizzly Marching Band
Encyclopedia
The University of Montana Grizzly Marching Band is a select, fun and close-knit group of hardworking, dedicated students. The band is open to everyone on the UM campus regardless of year or major. In fact, it has members of the band from virtually every major and discipline on campus and from almost every corner of the United States
and around the world.
The Grizzly Marching Band prides itself on the precision drill and exciting variety of entertaining musical arrangements that are performed each year. Recent halftime performances have included the following themes: The Beatles
, West Side Story, Blues Brothers, Latin-Jazz, Aaron Copland
, Sounds of the 60's, The Music of Bill Chase, Michael Jackson
, Tribute to America, and many others. In addition to the game day entertainment, we make several appearances in the community each season.
and a medley of songs from the hit rock group Chicago
.
The Grizzly Marching Band played Pirates of the Caribbean
, The Incredibles
, and Mission Impossible for their first 2006 field show. For their second field show, they entertained by playing The Offspring
's hit "Pretty Fly for a White Guy", a hit from the Edgar Winter Group called "Frankenstein", and also The Who
's mega-hit "Pinball Wizard". The Fight Song of the University of Montana is "Up With Montana". Common "stand songs" played by the marching band include "Mars (from The Planets by Gustov)", "Call Me Al", "School's Out for Summer", "Rocky Theme", "Gimme' Some Lovin", "Centerfold", "Hey Baby" and many more!
in Greeley, Colorado
, his Master of Music: Wind Conducting, also from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Bachelor of Music Education from Brigham Young University
.
Prior to joining the staff at UM, Dr. Griggs held a three year assistantship with the School of Music at the University of Northern Colorado where his main responsibilities involved assisting with the conducting of Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Concert Band. He also taught classes in conducting, secondary instrumental methods, and marching band techniques. Dr. Griggs has been actively involved in K-12 public education since 1991, holding positions in Jr. High/High School Instrumental Music Education at Payson Junior High School in Payson, UT; Weber High School in Pleasant View, UT; and Roy High School in Roy, Ut. He has also served as a clinician and adjudicator in both Utah and Colorado. Dr. Griggs is a member of College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Montana Music Educators Association, Montana Bandmasters Association and College Music Society.
Prior to his appointment at UM in 1990 , Dr. LedBetter taught at Eastern New Mexico University
, Tarleton State University
, Navarro College and held a Teaching Fellowship at the University of North Texas
for a total of four years. He has been actively involved as an instructor, arranger and adjudicator of corps-style marching bands since 1982 at both the high school and college level. His percussion background always insures a great drum-line in the Grizzly Marching Band.
Dr. LedBetter is also active as a concert artist performing throughout the Northwest area and has premiered numerous works for percussion. The University of Montana Percussion Ensemble and "Islanders" Steel Band have created a large following in the region drawing huge crowds to each concert. Some of the artists featured with this group include Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Andy Narell, Lalo Davila, Julie Spencer, Gregg Bisonette, Steve Houghton, Arthur Lipner and Jared Powell. He is also active as a drumset player performing regularly with other local jazz musicians. As a member of the All-Star Trio at the UM Jazz Festivals, he has performed with such artists as Andy Narell, Ernie Watts, Bobby Shew, Terry Gibbs, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Dee Daniels, Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco. Dr. LedBetter is also an active composer/arranger for marching band, percussion ensemble and steel band with numerous works under publication with Panyard, Inc. and Honeyrock Publishing. He is an Educational Endorser for Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth, Inc.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and around the world.
Programme
The band has its origins in the late 19th Century and has since created a tradition of excellence lasting into the new millennium. Marching in contemporary corps-style, the program stays on the cutting edge of trends in outdoor music performances. We are one of the most visible organizations on the University of Montana campus, performing at all Grizzly football home games in the newly renovated Washington-Grizzly Stadium with crowds of more than 25,500 fans. The group travels to several conference games in the Northwest and has accompanied the football team to four Division I-AA National Championships in recent years.The Grizzly Marching Band prides itself on the precision drill and exciting variety of entertaining musical arrangements that are performed each year. Recent halftime performances have included the following themes: The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, West Side Story, Blues Brothers, Latin-Jazz, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, Sounds of the 60's, The Music of Bill Chase, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Tribute to America, and many others. In addition to the game day entertainment, we make several appearances in the community each season.
Performances
The Grizzly Marching Band continues to grow and expand with many new members each year. The Band had reached over 140 members in 2006, and is expected to be even larger in 2009. In their most recent season of 2008, the marching band performed a piece called "Gandalf" from the musical series "Lord of the Rings." They also performed "Taking it to the Streets", "Alive and Amplified", and performed a riveting piece from the movie "1941" and composed by the Great American composer John Williams entitled "Swing, Swing, Swing." Other pieces such as the rock driven piece "Train, Train"Train-Train
was the fifth professional single by the Japanese band The Blue Hearts. They had released one single as an independent group, making this the sixth single overall.The single was released at the same time as the album Train-Train...
and a medley of songs from the hit rock group Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
The Grizzly Marching Band played Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
, The Incredibles
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
, and Mission Impossible for their first 2006 field show. For their second field show, they entertained by playing The Offspring
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1984. Known as Manic Subsidal until 1986, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada...
's hit "Pretty Fly for a White Guy", a hit from the Edgar Winter Group called "Frankenstein", and also The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's mega-hit "Pinball Wizard". The Fight Song of the University of Montana is "Up With Montana". Common "stand songs" played by the marching band include "Mars (from The Planets by Gustov)", "Call Me Al", "School's Out for Summer", "Rocky Theme", "Gimme' Some Lovin", "Centerfold", "Hey Baby" and many more!
Dr. Kevin Griggs
Dr. Kevin Griggs is the Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Director of Bands at The University of Montana where his responsibilities include directing the UM Grizzly Marching Band and Basketball Pep Band. Dr. Griggs is also the director of the University Concert band and teaches brass methods courses as a part of the Music Education Methods program. He received his Doctor of Arts in Music: Wind Conducting from the University of Northern ColoradoUniversity of Northern Colorado
-Organization:The University of Northern Colorado offers 100 undergraduate programs and more than 100 graduate programs. The university has a satellite campus in Denver, Colorado...
in Greeley, Colorado
Greeley, Colorado
The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...
, his Master of Music: Wind Conducting, also from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Bachelor of Music Education from Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
.
Prior to joining the staff at UM, Dr. Griggs held a three year assistantship with the School of Music at the University of Northern Colorado where his main responsibilities involved assisting with the conducting of Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Concert Band. He also taught classes in conducting, secondary instrumental methods, and marching band techniques. Dr. Griggs has been actively involved in K-12 public education since 1991, holding positions in Jr. High/High School Instrumental Music Education at Payson Junior High School in Payson, UT; Weber High School in Pleasant View, UT; and Roy High School in Roy, Ut. He has also served as a clinician and adjudicator in both Utah and Colorado. Dr. Griggs is a member of College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Montana Music Educators Association, Montana Bandmasters Association and College Music Society.
Dr. Robert LedBetter
Dr. Robert LedBetter is Associate Professor of Music at The University of Montana where he is Director of Percussion Studies and Emeritus Director of the Grizzly Marching Band. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance from the University of North Texas, M.M. in Percussion Performance from the University of Akron, and a B.M. in Music Education from Mars Hill College. He is currently serving as President of the Montana Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and is very active on the regional and national level as a performer, clinician and adjudicator.Prior to his appointment at UM in 1990 , Dr. LedBetter taught at Eastern New Mexico University
Eastern New Mexico University
Eastern New Mexico University , frequently called Eastern, is a state university in Portales, Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA...
, Tarleton State University
Tarleton State University
Tarleton State University is a public, coeducational, state university located in Stephenville, Texas. It is the largest non-land-grant university primarily devoted to agriculture in the United States....
, Navarro College and held a Teaching Fellowship at the University of North Texas
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...
for a total of four years. He has been actively involved as an instructor, arranger and adjudicator of corps-style marching bands since 1982 at both the high school and college level. His percussion background always insures a great drum-line in the Grizzly Marching Band.
Dr. LedBetter is also active as a concert artist performing throughout the Northwest area and has premiered numerous works for percussion. The University of Montana Percussion Ensemble and "Islanders" Steel Band have created a large following in the region drawing huge crowds to each concert. Some of the artists featured with this group include Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Andy Narell, Lalo Davila, Julie Spencer, Gregg Bisonette, Steve Houghton, Arthur Lipner and Jared Powell. He is also active as a drumset player performing regularly with other local jazz musicians. As a member of the All-Star Trio at the UM Jazz Festivals, he has performed with such artists as Andy Narell, Ernie Watts, Bobby Shew, Terry Gibbs, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Dee Daniels, Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco. Dr. LedBetter is also an active composer/arranger for marching band, percussion ensemble and steel band with numerous works under publication with Panyard, Inc. and Honeyrock Publishing. He is an Educational Endorser for Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth, Inc.