Despite COVID-19 regulations, the URI marching band still found a way to make music. Photo by James Singer.
With the start of a new semester during a pandemic, what does keeping the Rhody spirit alive look like?
This fall, the University of Rhode Island’s marching band is persevering through the challenges of accommodating to the guidelines of COVID-19.
Brian Cardany, who has been the band director at URI since 2002, specified that there are many layers to making practice work safely but that he has been “really pleased at the commitment and resourcefulness and the flexibility [the band] [has] shown.”
To ensure safety amongst the students, the band has kept to the 14 to 15 feet social distancing rule while practicing as recommended by the University.
With the students having to maintain distance from each other, the band’s choreography has changed, along with how they learn it.
“As musicians, we’re not used to being told we have to be very far away from each other,” Brandi Lane, a senior music education and orchestral performance major said.
The students participating in the band are responsible for personal protective equipment for themselves and their instruments.
With students being responsible for their own personal protective equipment, the band has gotten creative with ways to cover their instruments to ensure no contamination coming from playing the instrument is projected into the air.
Depending on the instrument, the covering is different. An instrument with more holes for finger positions would need a full coverage sleeve, such as a clarinet or saxophone, whereas some instruments just need to cover the bell opening, like trumpets or types of tubas. Many students have either resorted to using garbage bags, sheets or t-shirts as inexpensive ways to cover their instruments.
Aaron Vaughn, a senior elementary education major that plays the clarinet, said the process of learning the choreography and playing with the personal protective equipment has been challenging.
“[It’s] a lot harder because you don’t have as much space because a garbage bag is very restrictive,” Vaughn said.
Overall, the band has been continuing to practice through these times, and has plans to post YouTube videos of what they have been working on over these past few weeks.
The band’s first practice was pushed back until the start of the semester because they were not able to hold their annual band camp, which is a time for the members to work together and learn the music and movements as well as bond with each other.
Senior human development and family studies major and sousaphone player Mackenzie Hopkins discussed her feelings about the tradition of senior acknowledgement at football games. To her, it is a last hooray that will not be occurring this year due to the season being cancelled.
“I’m a little disappointed that I don’t get that acknowledgement,” Hopkins said, “but I’m very surprised we’re all still here and there are a bunch of people still involved in band.”
With football games not being held, the band is practicing for future seasons.
“[It] feels like the Ram spirit is continuing on, even in this very strange situation,” Cardany said.