For the past two decades Brian Cardany has been the director of bands at the University of Rhode Island.
He instructs the URI marching band, who can be seen at all home football games, open houses and more. They performed twice this year at home games on Aug. 31 and Sept. 14.
“I think the band is doing really well this year,” Cardany said. “We’ve had two games already, two performances and it’s been really solid work. We keep getting better and better every rehearsal.”
Cardany’s passion for music started when he was in middle school.
“I started playing trumpet in seventh grade,” Cardany said. “I also played some extracurricular sports and I found more and more that the music was what was drawing me back.”
Cardany went to James Madison University and majored in music education. During his time at the university he learned he had a real passion for teaching.
“I thought it might be a smart degree to get whether I go into music or not, and then I found through student teaching I actually really like teaching music,” Cardany said.
After he graduated, Cardany applied to work at URI and has been teaching and directing music at the university ever since. He also recently started working part-time at Salve Regina University as the orchestra director. Working with students and watching them grow is a highlight of the job for Cardany.
“I really enjoy meeting people,” he said. “I enjoy the experience of doing music together, sharing music together and watching them develop as musicians.”
Throughout his over-20-year career he has met many students who have come back as alumni, which Cardany finds very valuable.
“I kinda like the whole process of when you’re first meeting them up until hopefully the rest of their lives,” he said.
Cardany believes that a strong community is essential to success in music education.
“Something I like about this music department, which has been consistent in all the 22 years I’ve been here, is that everyone just gets along,” he said. “It’s kind of like a family here.”
Throughout the past few years there have been a few challenges for Cardany and his department, including the state of the Fine Art Center and its reconstruction.
“Having the Fine Arts Center be a nicer place to walk into will help,” Cardany said. “It’s just very drab, and the concrete, I guess it was cool back in 1960 but it’s really not attractive for a fine arts building.”
There have also been issues with low attendance within the Ram Band since the pandemic.
“Our numbers are much lower than they were five years ago, but the people who show up are committed and they play well so it’s more a quality over quantity thing,” Cardany said.
Cardany says many students are interested in band, but due to outside conflicts it can be hard to get people to join.
“Another problem I’ve encountered is class conflicts,” Cardany said. “We have all our rehearsals in the afternoon and evenings trying to avoid that class conflict to some degree, but we still have students that can’t participate.”
Pass and Review is the winter showcase for the band, which really shows their skills and all the work they have put in over the past few months, Cardany said.
“It’s a culminating activity for the band and they get to share it with everyone where weather is not an issue and it’s always a really fun and energetic night,” he said.
Pass and Review takes place Friday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center concert hall. Tickets for students are $10 and will soon be available on the URI Department of Music Eventbrite page.