Solid Gold Sound Club Newsletter The official UCLA support organization for the UCLA Bruin Marching Band Band Alumni Reunion 2010 Summer 2011

Over 165 Band Alumni participated in the 11th Biennial Band Alumni Reunion on Saturday, October 30th at halftime of the UCLA vs. Arizona football game. The Halloween theme, featuring a medley of “Ghostbusters” and “Thriller” along with the UCLA Band and the Band Alumni wearing Halloween costumes, was well received by the Rose Bowl crowd. Despite a massive storm that rained all night and early morning, the skies cleared just as the rehearsal began at 9:00am. HUGE quantities of Adidas gear and other apparel were distributed to the participants after the rehearsal. The Distance Award was presented to Peter Dames, who came all the way from Peter Dames accepts the Distance Award Veldhoven, the Netherlands, from Assistant Director Keith Kupper and the Representative from the Earliest UCLA Class Award was presented to three band alumni - tuba player Peter Barrett, piccolo player Paul Hill and Drum Major Kim Strutt, who all were in Keith Kupper with Representatives of Drum Majors David Cho, Jess Schlosser and Jacob the UCLA Band in the Earliest UCLA Class Paul Hill, Peter Ferrin as Ghostbusters the 1950’s. Barrett and Kim Strutt

Support the Band – Text BAND to 20222 Inside This Newsletter Until the end of this December, you can donate $10 to the UCLA 50th Anniversary of the Bruin Marching Band by texting the word BAND to 20222. You Band’s Tour of Europe Page 2 & 3 may make up to three donations per phone. At your next tailgate Alumni Salute – Ron Logan Page 4 party at the Rose Bowl, get everyone in your group to give it a Profile of Benjamin Laietsky, try! These donations and the ones we first Director of the receive from the enclosed envelopes and UCLA Marching Band Page 5 from our website will be deposited in the Halftime Shows 2011 Page 6 UCLA Bruin Marching Band Fund to UCLA Band Video Project Page 6 help with scholarships, instrument and Scenes from the 2010 Season Page 7 uniform purchases, non-bowl travel, and New Website Page 8 hiring staff. The Band’s 1961 European Trip

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the UCLA Band’s European Trip. In 1961, the Band was invited to per- form at the American Independence Day Celebration at Rebild National Park in Aalborg, Denmark on July 4, which sparked a 27-day tour of Europe. This sojourn abroad was a defining moment for the band program, both in terms of revitalizing student inter- est in joining the band and award- ing the band international prestige and acclaim. During the trip, the Band, which consisted of 83 mem- bers selected from the Marching, Varsity, and Concert Bands, visited England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. In rep- resenting UCLA abroad, the Band believed in its duty to internationally foster harmony through the universal language of music. Throughout the Fall Semester of 1960, Band members eagerly awaited the trip. John Hayes, one of four freshmen in the Band to go, recently commented, “I know the people in the band were talking about it all year. I think that some of the mem- Outdoor concert in Vielje, Denmark bers of the band stayed an extra year to time their graduation so they could go on that trip in particular.” Each member of the Band going on the trip was required to pay $300 in out-of-pocket expenses. It was decided that any additional expenses would be financed with the proceeds from a benefit concert, which the Band hosted in Royce Hall in May 1961. The Band performed and also featured special guests at the concert, including opera singer Dorothy Kirsten, baritones Howard Keel and Gordon MacRae, pianist George Greeley, and famed film composer Alfred Newman. The Band departed Los Angeles on June 14th. During a lengthy layover in New York, the Band boarded buses for a quick tour of the city. After stopping in Iceland to refuel, the group arrived in London on June 16th. During the trip, concerts were given before capacity audiences at London’s Victoria Embankment Gardens, the Salle Playel in Paris, Vienna’s Knozerthaus before the International Society of Music Educators, and Munich’s Amerika Haus. While in Paris, the Band went on a tour of the Buffet Crampon et Compagnie instrument factory. Although Clarence Sawhill and Kelly James allowed the Band three days at most stops on the tour, John Hayes remembers a distinct lack of free time during the beginning of the trip. “I remember we were at Napoleon’s Tomb, and we had a big meeting of the band because a lot of people didn’t want to go to the Buffet factory. And it was decided there that the woodwind players would all go to the Buffet factory, and other people didn’t have to go if they really didn’t want to. So a little group of us got to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower that day. In Europe at that time, you couldn’t get a cold drink anywhere. Soft drinks and everything were pretty much served warm, but at the top of the Eiffel Tower they had all these ice Twirler Carl Burnett cold Cokes and so we all went crazy up there.” The longest portion of the trip – eight days – was spent in Denmark in the cities of Vielje, Aalborg, Copenhagen and Nakskov. When the Band arrived in Vejle, it marched from the train station to the Lord Mayor’s home, who, along with 40,000 other citizens of the city, welcomed the Band. The Band’s performance at the American Independence Day cel- ebration in Rebild National Park was perhaps the climax of the trip. Walt Disney spoke and several groups performed, including the UCLA Marching Band, a Danish Army band, and the Dana College Parade in Denmark Choir from Nebraska. Following the 4th of July celebration at Rebild, the Band stayed in Copenhagen, where they performed at Tivoli Gardens with Walt Disney present (Tivoli Gardens had been one of Disney’s inspirations for creating the original ). The Band gave its last performances of the tour in Naksov, where approximately 12,000 people watched three concerts presented by NATO. The Band departed for New York on July 10th, and arrived back in Los Angeles the following day, although about half the Band got off the plane when it stopped in New York and then made their way home on their own. The Band’s tour had been a smashing success. Hilde Weldinger, Austrian Cultural Advisor to the United States Information Service, wrote Chancellor Murphy expressing his admiration for the Bruin Band. “I want to tell you how much I enjoyed listening to this musical ensemble under Program for the Band’s performance at the American the direction of Mr. Clarence Sawhill... I now know why Independence Day Celebration at Rebild National Park all big symphony orchestras of in Denmark America have such outstanding brass and woodwind sections. May I also tell you that I, as an Austrian citizen, wish we had such an outstanding university band as you have. Though your UCLA Band is young in tradi- tion, it is rich in musical skill.” The American Ambassador to Denmark, William McCormick Blair, Jr., wrote to Chancellor Murphy offering his appreciation for the band’s performance. “It is a source of great satisfaction and pride to all of us here to have our country represented by so fine a musical and human-relations-con- scious organization as your Band proved to be.” Visit to Buffet instrument factory in Paris Alumni Spotlight – Ron Logan

Ron Logan joined the UCLA Band as a fresh- man trumpet player in 1956. Ron and famed studio French horn player David Duke both were on Band staff as uniform managers when the UCLA Band first wore their famous “Beefeater” uniforms. Ron played in the bas- ketball Band and was a member of the band that traveled to Europe during the summer of 1961, actually leading a breakout jazz band that played for King Frederick of Denmark – Walt Disney was a special guest of the King that night. Ron began his 27-year career with in 1960, when he was asked to lead the Fanfare Trumpets that played for the daily award ceremonies with the U.S. Marine Band at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics in California. Ron Logan, left, with Kenneth Sawhill and David Duke at Royce Following his graduation from UCLA with Hall in 2002 Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music and Music Education, Ron served as Director of Bands at James Monroe High School in Sepulveda, California for three-and-a-half years and as Director of Bands and Jazz Studies at Long Beach City College for 12 years, until 1978, when he joined the Walt Disney Company full time, first as Music Director at in Florida conducting the Walt Disney World Marching Band, and eventually as Executive Vice President and Executive Producer of Walt Disney Entertainment Worldwide. Ron was responsible for creating, casting, and producing all live entertainment prod- ucts for the Walt Disney Company, including the , Walt Disney World Resort, Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris, The , Disney Business Productions, , Disney Entertainment Productions and Walt Disney Entertainment Worldwide. He was also Executive Vice President of the Walt Disney Special Event group, Disney Special Programs, Inc., and the founder and first President of Disney Theatrical Productions, which pro- duced Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast – A New Musical” on Broadway and around the world. Ron retired from Disney in 2001. In 2007, Logan was honored with the Award, which is presented to individuals who have made a significant impact on The Walt Disney Company. Ron was a founding member of the International Foundation for Jazz, a corporate advisory council established in support of jazz education. He serves on numer- ous advisory boards in support of the arts including Dream Vision Entertainment (Orlando, Florida) and Animated Family Films (South Africa). Ron is Executive Vice President and Executive Producer of “Entertainment Arts” – a worldwide consulting company, with current projects in Mobile, Alabama, South Africa, and Brazil. Ron also teaches “Theme Park Management” and “Entertainment Arts” at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management (Associate Professor, University of Central Florida) and “The Business of Show Business” at Webster University in Orlando, Florida. From 1999 to 2002, Ron served as Honorary Chairman of the UCLA Clarence Sawhill Memorial Endowed Band Fund. In celebration of reaching the fundraising Ron Logan serving as the goal of $50,000, Ron was invited to conduct the UCLA Wind Ensemble in Royce model for the band uniforms Hall in May 2002, at the Clarence Sawhill Memorial Concert. purchased in 1958 Profile of the Marching Band’s First Director – Benjamin Laietsky

Beginning in 1919, either the ROTC Band or a loosely organized Pep Band performed at various UCLA athletic events. The first formally organized, uniformed UCLA Marching Band started in the fall of 1928 when Benjamin Laietsky was hired as the first Director. Laietsky was born on November 16, 1884, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Russian parents who had emigrated from Kiev just two years before. He became an accomplished violinist and began his career as a musician performing in theaters in the St. Louis area before moving to Southern California just before World War I. He continued his career as a violinist in theater orchestras including the one at the Superba Theatre on South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. He was featured as a violin soloist with the John Philip Sousa Band as they toured the United States. By 1916, he was also a well-known orchestra leader and his ensemble was selected to perform at the opening of the cavernous Dome Dance Pavilion in Venice Beach on July 4th of that year. Throughout the 1920’s, Ben Laietsky’s Orchestra was a summer fixture at the Crescent Avenue Pavilion on Catalina Island. In 1928, his parents, who were visiting during one of Laietsky’s performances on Catalina Island, were surprised to see some friends of theirs from Russia, the Levys, whom they had not seen in almost 40 years. While the two families were getting to know each other again, Benjamin Laietsky was introduced to the Levys’ daughter, Isabella, who was Benjamin’s dance partner later that evening (after Ben turned the baton over to another musician in the ensemble) and then his wife a few months later. Laietsky’s hiring at UCLA was the result of a long campaign to establish a uni- formed marching band that was finally made a reality by the efforts of Student Council President Kenneth Piper, as described in the 1928-29 UCLA Yearbook “Southern Campus.” “The band was at last a reality...Against the green of playing field, the band made an effective picture in their trim uniforms of blue and gold. As they marched down the length of the Coliseum in perfect step to the martial swing of the blaring music the entire rooting section rose with a triumphant shout. For five years this moment had been awaited. It was more than a band that was Benjamin Laietsky welcoming John playing; it was five years of effort capped with success...” Philip Sousa to Los Angeles on November 7, 1928 The Band’s welcoming of John Philip Sousa in downtown Los Angeles was widely publicized and a source of great pride for the newly formed band, as well as for Laietsky, who was reunited with his former bandleader. This turned out to be Sousa’s final visit to Los Angeles before his death in 1932. During his time as Director of the UCLA Marching Band, Laietsky maintained his career as a violinist and orches- tra leader. After two years at UCLA, he left to focus on his growing opportunities to work as an orchestra con- tractor and manager for theaters, such as the opulent Orpheum Theatre, and for numerous radio shows, including those for Jimmy Durante, Cliff Arquette, Kenny Baker and Garry Moore. In the mid 1930’s, after suffering numer- ous misspellings of his last name for years, he officially changed it to Lasky. Lasky’s career as an orchestra contractor and conductor continued through the 1940’s, and he would often be asked to assemble ensembles for events at the Shrine Auditorium, the Greek Theatre and for the Ice Capades. Lasky arranged for comedian Red Skelton to appear at one of the Shrine Auditorium shows, which Skelton did as a favor to Lasky for helping him become a member of the Masons - Lasky was very active in that organization and reached the 33rd Degree, the highest possible level. Lasky also served as the Band Director at Beverly Hills High School during World War II after the Director George Wright was drafted into the Army. One of his students at Beverly Hills High was Andre Previn, the future famed composer and Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Benjamin Lasky died in Los Angeles in 1955 at the age of 70. Special thanks to Marvin Lasky for the photographs and other information about his father. Marvin, who was born while his father was the Band Director at UCLA, currently lives in Hollywood and is a big fan of UCLA sports teams. Halftime Shows for Fall 2011

The Band’s first halftime show this fall will be during the Texas game on September 17th, when it will perform its Pregame Show, with “Bruin Fanfare,” “Strike Up the Band for UCLA,” UCLA fight songs and a current pop song. Show 1’s music will include the Maynard Ferguson version of “Birdland,” “Open Up Wide” by Bill Chase, and “Karn Evil 9” by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. “Open Up Wide” will feature the Band’s two new Feature Twirlers, Michelle Glymph and ReJoyce Green. This show will be performed at the Stanford game in Palo Alto, the Washington State home game, and the USC game at the Coliseum. The theme for Show 2 will be Funky Music, and will include “Squib Cakes” by Tower of Power, Michelle Glymph ReJoyce Green “Funky Town” by Lipps, Inc., Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon”, and a medley of Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music, White Boy” and “We Want the Funk” by Parliament. This show is currently scheduled to be performed at the Arizona State game at home on November 5th. The annual Band Day Show will be presented during halftime of the Cal game at the Rose Bowl on October 29th. The featured song for this show will be Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” The traditional quadrennial presentation of the Band’s famous “Downfall of Troy” Show is scheduled for halftime at the Colorado game at home on November 19th, one week before the USC game (this Show is so controver- sial that we are not allowed to perform it at the actual USC game, which is why we always try to schedule it just before that game).

UCLA Band Video Project

For over twenty years, we have been gathering, digitizing and editing films and videos of band performances of the UCLA Band as far back as the 1941 Homecoming Parade. At long last, we have begun posting these videos online on our own YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/uclabandvideoproject (If you have problems accessing the page, go to www.youtube.com and search for uclabandvideoproject) So far, we have mostly posted films with no soundtrack due to the expense of obtaining licenses for the use of the music, but over 100 of the Band’s shows from 1960 to 1976 are available for viewing. Over the next few months we will be adding more and upgrading the quality of the ones that are already there. If you want to see something special, check out the “1972 – UCLA vs. USC Halftime” video starting at about 1:45. Do any band alumni remember this hap- pening? On the Band’s main website www.band.ucla.edu, there is a link to last fall’s show based on the music of the alternative British rock band Muse. The cost to obtain the license to show this video with the music was $1000 for one year, so you can see how expensive it could get to make all 500 of our videos available online at this time. On the field at the Rose Bowl Scenes from the 2010 Season

Trombonist Brandon Bies Color Guard member Snare Drummer Tyler Ryan Trumpeter Eric Crose Victoria Whitener

Tenor Saxophonist Alto Saxophonist Matt Gafney Katie Meschke

Trumpeter Zachariah Gannaway in his Hercules poise during “Zero to Hero” Drum Major Justin Grant during the pregame show run-on

Drum Major Jess Schlosser William Plenk appointed Director of Marching/Athletic Bands at the University of Nevada, Reno

William Plenk, who served as a Teaching Assistant with the UCLA Bruin Marching Band for the past five years, was recently appointed as Director of Marching/Athletic Bands at the University of Nevada, Reno starting this fall. William received his under- graduate degree from Ithaca College, his Master of Music in Tuba Performance from UCLA, and this spring he completed his work on his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting. His dissertation topic was “Music and Art: A Discussion of Performance Practice Issues in Satoshi Yagisawa’s La promenade, La femme a l’ombrelle – An Artwork of Claude Monet.” William was a member of the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps for five years and served as Drum Major for three of those years, including the Cadets’ 2005 DCI Championship William Plenk season. William has served on the drum corps instructional staffs of the Cadets, the Academy and the Boston Crusaders, and he also is the Brass Instructor for the Tenrikyo Aimachi Marching Band from Nagoya, Japan, the current All Japan National Champion. Congratulations to William on his appointment and good luck with the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack Marching Band this fall!

New Band Website Design

The Band has a new website design by sophomore trombonist Rupen Dajee that uses the same addresses as before - www.uclaband.com or www.band.ucla.edu The website features numerous current and historical photographs, embedded videos from recent halftime shows, a link to the McDonalds commercial the Band appeared in earlier this year, and a live Twitter feed! We hope to add new content on a regular basis so please visit the site often.

Solid Gold Sound Club Board of Directors

Gary Bittner Richard and Kathy Martin Peter Dames Robert Milford Rebecca Gottlieb Michael O’Gara Michael Hanson Mary Park Nancy Ishiki Jeff Pickett Joe and Heidi Hardman Matt Sonefeldt Chris Holbert Brad Sraberg Rob Joyner Kim Strutt Brian Kushnir Andrew Yonce Ron Logan

UCLA Bands Band Juggler Nick Smith Box 951616 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1616 (310) 825-3835 www.band.ucla.edu Email: [email protected] Trombonist Wesley Mercado