Welcome all veterans and new members to the 106th season of the WVU Marching Band! Since its inception in 1901, the award-winning WVU Band has dramatically evolved in size, reputation, membership make-up, and performance style/quality. The band's reputation around the University, the state, the region, and the nation shows that we are firmly established as one of the premier collegiate marching bands! Demand has never been higher for acceptance into the WVU Band, as we are nearing an all-time record with the current size of the 2007 band! You should be extremely proud to be a member of such a respected organization, and we hope this 106th year can be the best one yet for the WVU Band!

This upcoming 2007 season is going to be filled with great music, challenging drill moves, and lasting friendships. As you may know, expectations are high for our football team again this season as the Mountaineers will likely begin the season with a top 5 national ranking and are considered by many to be a strong contender for a trip to the National Championship! With "Heisman Trophy hopefuls" Pat White and Steve Slaton back, as well as an improved defensive secondary and great team speed, Coach Rod and the guys should have an outstanding season again this year.

Our home football schedule is both challenging and exciting, as we have six home games this year, including two national TV home games already confirmed against rivals Pitt and Louisville on a Thursday night! After a busy early season push, the month of October is a bit mild as we gear up for a very busy end of the season as we head down the home stretch to what will hopefully be our 5th consecutive January bowl game! As usual, we will have to be prepared to perform at the highest level each and every week this season as we again have several national TV appearances scheduled, and we also expect to host at least one visiting band this year (Pitt), as well as our very own WVU Alumni Band at Homecoming.

We plan to have a fun and rewarding travel schedule finalized by band camp that will hopefully (pending funding) feature full-band trips to the Syracuse and Marshall games, as well as exhibition performances in Charleston, WV and Ligonier, PA. With this exciting travel schedule in the works, as well as the annual KeyNotes concerts (and hopefully another major Bowl Trip ahead), things are shaping up for another outstanding performance season for "The Pride!"

As many of you may have heard, there have been a few changes to the band staff for 2007. We are very happy and sad at the same time to announce that our former assistant to the directors, Nikki "Coach" Gross has been named as the new marching band director at the University of Dayton (OH)! Although we will deeply miss Nikki and we thank her for all of her work with the bands over the years, this is a great career opportunity for her and her family. Good luck, Coach!

Fortunately, we have not had to look very far to fill the vacancy left by Nikki, as we are very pleased to announce that our former graduate assistant Chris Nichter has been promoted to be our new Assistant to the Directors! Chris has done some outstanding work with the band over the past two years and we are pleased to have him on board in this new role for the 2007 season.

Also joining us this season will be three additional folks. First is our new graduate assistant, Matt Smith, who has most recently been teaching in Charlotte, NC. We welcome Matt to the WVU Family and look forward to getting to work with him and to know him better. Our final two pieces of the puzzle for the 2007 Instructional Staff will be our new Colorguard Instructor, Danielle Smith, and new Percussion staff member Brian Hanley. We welcome Danielle and Brian who both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the staff. Welcome!

Again, welcome to the band! We hope you are starting to get "psyched" for the season - it won't be long until it is here! We hope your membership in the band will provide you with a positive experience that will enhance your overall collegiate life here at WVU. And, of course, we want this season to provide you the opportunities to meet new people, rekindle old friendships, and to have fun.

If you have any questions concerning any aspect of the band, please feel free to call us at (304) 293-4841 (ext. 3157) or e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

I hope the remainder of your summer goes well. I look forward to seeing you in August!!