Solid Gold Sound Club Newsletter The official UCLA support organization for the UCLA Bruin Marching Band Summer 2012 Band Alumni Reunion 2012 The 12th Biennial Band Alumni Reunion will be held at halftime of the UCLA vs. Utah football game on Saturday, October 13th at the Rose Bowl. Plans call for the rehearsal to be held on a parking lot adjacent to the RoseBowl beginning 3 1⁄2 hours before game time (yet to be announced). At the 2010 Band Alumni Reunion, the Band is led onto the field by former “Golden Girls” Amy Arellano and Debbie Campanelli Simek Immediately after the rehearsal, we will have HUNDREDS of items from the Band’s Adidas allotment as free giveaways to all band alumni who attend! Items will include shoes, backpacks, jackets, sweatshirts, shorts and shirts!!! We will be sending out registration forms later this summer, so Michele Chan Free, in her official Olympic All- mark your calendars and make plans to be there! A medley of American Band uniform, at the 2004 Band Alumni beach music, “California Girls,” “Wipeout” and “Surf City,” Reunion that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles Olympics will be the featured song, and yes, the combined UCLA Band and alumni drummers will play the famous drum solo on “Wipeout.” The alumni who travel the furthest distance and who represent the earliest UCLA class will receive special awards and will be introduced to the Rose Bowl audience as part of the halftime show. Let’s make this one the biggest Reunion ever! Feature Twirlers return for Fall 2012 Both of our Feature Twirlers, Rejoyce Green from Palm Springs and Michelle Glymph from Torrance, will return this fall for their sophomore season. Last fall was the first time the Band had Feature Twirlers in almost a decade, and their pres- ence has added a new dynamic to the Band’s performances. Michelle Glymph ReJoyce Green Welcome New Assistant Director Kelly Flickinger Dr. Kelly Flickinger is entering his first year as the Assistant Director of the Bruin Marching Band. He previously served as the Head Percussion Instructor and Arranger from 2007 to 2010. Under Flickinger’s direction, the Drumline has performed with Linkin Park and Paula Abdul, and was featured on Vicfirth.com. In 2010, Flickinger designed a Drumline per- formance for the 27th Annual Ekitopia Festival Parade in Nagoya, Japan. From 2008 to 2011, Flickinger taught Percussion Methods at UCLA, and in 2012 he was a Guest Conductor with the Symphonic Band. This year he will be teaching applied percussion to music education majors. From 2008 to 2010, Flickinger served as a percussion instructor for Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps. He has taught and arranged for numer- ous high schools throughout Southern California, including the nine-time SCSBOA champion William S. Hart High School. His travels have taken him to Thailand on several occasions, where he has served as a clinician for schools throughout the country. In addition to UCLA, he has served as Percussion Instructor or Arranger for the University of Nevada, Reno Assistant Director Kelly Flickinger Wolf Pack Marching Band and the Central Washington University Wildcat Marching Band. Flickinger has performed throughout the United States, as well as Canada, Hong Kong, and Japan. He was a mem- ber of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, Black Knights Drum Corps, and Esperanza Drum and Bugle Corps. Recently, he performed on “American Idol” with James Durbin and appeared on stage with Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Robin Thicke, and Jennifer Nettles on the ABC show “Duets.” Flickinger recently received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from UCLA. His dissertation is entitled “Music as a Gradual Lostness: A Performer’s Guide to the Phase Music of Steve Reich.” New TAMA Marching Percussion Instruments The UCLA Drumline will be performing on TAMA Drums beginning this fall. With guidance from DCI Hall of Famer and UCLA Band alumnus Tom Float, TAMA has designed marching percussion instruments with innovative features that have set a new standard of excellence. The UCLA Drumline will continue to perform on Remo drum heads, Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth sticks and mallets. The new TAMA and REMO Bass Drum Head Snare Drummer Ken Tewell Downfall of Troy Show 2011 It has become a tradition to perform the band’s famous “Downfall of Troy” Show once every four years, which gives everyone who stays in the Band four or more years an opportunity to perform this show. The show was first dreamed up in 1984 as a way to remind everyone how ridiculous it is for USC to use a horse as an emblem since it was the Trojan Horse that caused Troy’s downfall. The Trojan Navy approaches Troy The Trojans knock down the King and capture Helen Menelaus, King of Sparta, played by Wesley Mercado, and Helen, played by senior Drum Major Jessica Schlosser The battle gets personal The battle continues The Trojan Horse enters the city Ten Greeks who were hiding in the Horse open the gates and signal for the Greeks to rush in The Greeks surround the defeated Trojans Photos from the Fall 2011 Season Tenor Drummer Stephen Hufford Flautist Amanda Michael Mellophone Player Meghan Truax Trumpet Andrew Levin Senior Drum Major Jess Schlosser Senior Drum Major Justin Grant UCLA Basketball “Road Show” The UCLA Band made its presence known at each stop of the basketball team’s “Road Show.” Games were played this past season in Ontario, the Honda Center in Anaheim and the Sports Arena in downtown Los Angeles. Although the time commitment to play at a game lasted from six to seven hours due to travel time compared to the usual two and a half hours for an on-campus game, the Band had great turnouts, and actually was larger than dur- ing the previous season in Pauley Pavilion, and often outnumbered the rest of the student body! Look for an expanded role for the Band in the “new” Pauley Pavilion during the upcoming basketball season. The Band performing before the Arizona State game at the Honda Center The Band performing with the UCLA Dance Team at halftime of the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim. Pac-12 Championship Game Over 200 members of the Bruin Marching Band accompanied the team to Eugene, Oregon to play at the inaugural Pac-12 Conference Championship Game versus the Oregon Ducks on December 2, 2011. After a below-freezing rehearsal the night before the game with the Oregon Band, the two bands performed together during the Pregame Show on a medley of Lady Gaga songs. Bundled up for the night rehearsal with the Oregon Band The combined Pregame Show with the Oregon Band The Trombone Section warming up before the game The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl For the trip to San Francisco to perform as a pep band at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, about 120 members traveled from Los Angeles, and another 50 who live in the Bay Area met us there. The Band’s hotel was just two blocks from Pier 39, so band members had an easy time hitting all the sights the night before the game. This was UCLA’s second appearance at this bowl, which is held at AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. The Drumline at AT&T Park The Sousaphone Section warming up next to the Willie McCovey statue next to At&T Park Brass and Woodwinds inside At&T Park Alumni Profile — James and Terri Coomes In the summer of 1989, James Coomes began his journey as a Bruin by playing a few scales and doing some sight- reading on trombone for former Assistant Band Director Jennifer Judkins in Schoenberg Music Building. That try- out began a relationship with the Solid Gold Sound that continues to this day. James played in the Bruin Marching Band and the pep bands from 1989 through 1994. During that time, he was awarded the Glenn Katz Freshman of the Year award (presumably for beating senior drum major Tim Close in a 100-yard dash during field practice), served as a Rank Leader and a member of the Recruitment Staff, per- formed in pep bands for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, played in five Band Bowls, coached a women’s intramural band flag football team and became a member of Terri and James with their son Ethan and daughter Mia the Psi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi. While in school, James worked for the United Spirit Association as a drum major instructor and camp director as well as with the University as a Campus Security Officer. It was also in school that he met his future spouse, Terri Segura, through an introduction by a fellow band member. While Terri was not initially in the marching band, she later marched as part of the cymbal line. Concerned that dating someone in band might bring bad luck to the football and basketball teams, James told Terri that they might have to break things off. After eight straight wins against USC in football and an NCAA men’s basketball championship, James and Terri married in 1999. After receiving a BA in 1994, James continued at UCLA with the School of Social Welfare (now the Luskin School of Public Affairs) and went on to work for the County of Los Angeles. James also began his volunteer career with UCLA, joining alumni Tom Kluksdahl and Carl Miller on the Marching Band’s Video Crew. The video crew’s primary responsibilities are to record pregame, halftime and ancillary footage for practice purposes, publicity and public relations for both the Band and the University, and to archive the history of the Bruin Marching Band.