In addition to their plumed hats, this year’s members of the University of Minnesota marching band will wear masks, and so will their instruments.
The football team isn’t the only Gopher operation dealing with uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band, with more than 300 members, may have to redesign its entire program for the upcoming season. New protocols such as social distancing, online instruction and smaller practice sections are being implemented, as well as custom face and instrument coverings. Yes, masks for trumpets and other instruments.
Staff are currently working around the clock to ensure the band is ready ahead of the approaching school year, director Betsy McCann said.
The band usually practices for months on end and performs at home Gopher football game at TCF Bank Stadium as well as other events. The marchers normally spend hours with each other during the summer and fall, from rehearsals to game days to bowl game trips.
Staff have been “working like crazy” to make the season safe and healthy for its members, McCann said.
Instead of holding their normal practices with the entire band, the students will be split into smaller practice groups to learn the marching routines. Half of the band will learn the pregame performance, and the other half will learn the halftime show. All practices will be held outside, which McCann said will help dissipate air droplets from the students talking and playing their instruments.
Students will also be spaced further apart from each other than usual and will wear masks when they are able. Coverings over the ends of some instruments will also be used to catch droplets. Keeping the droplets from spreading is key to stemming the spread of the coronavirus.
“Throughout all of our planning for the fall, the health and safety of our students and our staff has been the number one driver for us,” McCann said.
Because students have to be spaced further apart on the field, routines the band has used for decades have to be rewritten. We have right now five different people working on rewriting our pregame show and writing halftime shows, keeping everybody spaced out and being as creative as they can, with these limitations of keeping everybody very far apart,” McCann said.
There will be a virtual learning component for all students to do from home, such as music memorization and some physical conditioning. For students who are not comfortable with meeting in person, an entirely virtual program will be available to them. These students will learn the music and practice marching routines from home.
The 2020 Gopher football season is still up in the air. McCann said if the band is unable to perform at games, it will video record performances and broadcast them over social media for fans to watch.
“We are trying to make sure that we can do some live performance in a safe way so people can get the experience of live music but also for our students to have that performance experience,” McCann said.
For student leaders in the band, maintaining a strong community and “band family” is one of their main concerns for the upcoming season.
Chamberlain Gregg, an incoming senior at the U, will be the band’s drum major for the second year in a row. Gregg said he’s worried that since the band will be split in two, students many not be able to interact with each other as much.
“That’s a bit of a bummer, I won’t lie,” Gregg said.
Bethany Mestelle, also an incoming senior, will be band’s block captain — or second-in-command. Mestelle said while she’s unhappy the band will be divided up, it’s better than not being able to see each other at all.
“Being split is tough, but I think knowing that the alternative is that we probably wouldn’t get to do anything at all is keeping everyone pretty optimistic,” Mestelle said.
Despite the difficulties the pandemic is posing, band members are still committed to doing as much as they can.
“Moving forward with the season, we really have to plan ahead on how are we going to make sure that everybody is as close as they would be in a regular year despite everything that’s going on,” Gregg said.
Gregg said McCann’s determination to keep the season going is pivotal to the band’s success.
“She’s doing her absolute utmost to make sure that we still have an incredible experience and that all these new members are going to have the time of their lives, even though it looks completely different,” Gregg said.