The Wind Ensemble is UCM’s premiere concert band and is open to all UCM students by audition. The Wind Ensemble performs contemporary repertoire for wind ensemble and concert band as well as some of the most important core literature. 

Significant performances include the 2014 Southwest Division Conference of the College Band Directors National Association at the University of Arkansas; 2008, 2011, 2015, and 2020 performances at the Missouri Music Educators Association Conference; featured performances in New York's famed Carnegie Hall (2010 and 2016); and the UCM President's Concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

The UCM Marching Mules have a tradition of serving the institution as the musical ambassadors for the university community. Consisting of students from almost every department and major on campus, the Marching Mules provide excitement on and off the field during the football season. All members of the Marching Mules receive a service award for their participation, and additional scholarships may be available depending on the student's performance ability and availability to audition for other UCM Music ensembles. Click here to join!

For more information, please contact Dr. Mark Bonner, Director of Athletic Bands, bands@ucmo.edu.

 

 

The UCM Chamber Winds is considered an elite ensemble, as it consists of the principal performers in the UCM Wind Ensemble.  Repertoire is chosen from both master chamber winds works, and more contemporary pieces and commissions.  The ensemble is also conducted by graduate students who are working on conducting technique in their Masters of Arts degree.

The UCM Basketball Pep Band performs at all men's and women's home basketball games and during postseason travel for the MIAA and NCAA tournaments. In 2018, the pep band traveled with the Jennies all the way to the National Championship game, bringing home the second title in school history.

To qualify for the Basketball Pep Band, students must be members of the UCM Marching Band for at least one semester. Current freshmen who are enrolled in Marching Band are eligible to participate.

Click here for more information about UCM Percussion

Click here for more information about the UCM Color Guard.

 The UCM Jazz Bands provide an opportunity for all UCM students to experience performing Jazz at a high level. The program has two big bands, both which serve the campus and regional community in entertaining programs consisting of classic big band charts and contemporary literature. Click here for more information about UCM’s Jazz & Commercial Music Program.

The one-stop-shop for all incoming and current UCM students to be prepared for all things UCM Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, and Symphonic Band (updated between semesters and during the summer months). Click here to visit the student portal.

Marching Band Staff
(to contact, please send an email to: bands@ucmo.edu)

• Bailey Ross - Color Guard Coordinator
• Alicyn Quick - Band Graduate Assistant

 

Whether graduates of Central Missouri State University or University of Central Missouri, our alumni have a long and loyal history with their Alma Mater. Continue your legacy by giving to the Band Development Account via the UCM Alumni Foundation or to one of our many endowed scholarships.

Alumni wishing to stay connected with the UCM Band Program should text the word 'Alumni' to 660-248-0496.  You may also visit the UCM Alumni Band Webpage.

 

Opportunities for Alumni Engagement

Homecoming, October 15, 2022

 

Join alumni from the 1950s to this past year in cheering on the Mules, participating in the homecoming parade, attending the high school parade competition awards ceremony, cheering on the football team from the stands, and participating in our halftime show (no worries, we will limit the marching!). Register with the alumni band board by clicking here and enjoy a few hours with fellow alumni and current students at Homecoming!

 

Alumni Band Concert, February 18, 2023

Rekindle relationships with colleagues old and new. This annual event brings alumni back to the Warrensburg campus to have a few hours of fun and music making in Hendricks Hall. To register for the Alumni Band Concert, please click here.

 

Warrensburg Community Band

Contact David Robinson, President

 

The first band at what is now known as the University of Central Missouri was formed during the 1899-1900 academic year by Robert Zoll, an Instructor in Drawing. By 1904 there were two bands, and in 1909, under the direction of David W. Schlosser, the band was playing at chapel and for basketball games. The band acquired uniforms with navy-blue coats and hats in 1915 while R. J. Meyer was the director.  

Don Essig, who established a strong reputation as a director of circus and vaudeville bands, served as conductor from 1920 to 1941. Mr. Essig acquired a large collection of historic musical instruments and vaudeville-style sound-producing novelty devices such as alarm clocks, canes, and more. These are now a renowned permanent collection housed in the Kirkpatrick Library and the Utt Music Building on UCM campus. From the 1920s-1960s, student groups toured Greater Kansas City presenting programs in high schools and communities using these instruments.

Clifton A. Burmeister further developed UCM Bands as Director of Bands in 1945 when many World War II veterans with strong performance skills returned to school. The following members of the band during this period achieved state and/or national recognition: Frank Fendorf (high school band director at Chillicothe, Vice President of Wingert-Jones Music, Inc., Honorary Associate Member of the American Bandmasters Association); Edgar Summerlin (composer of the first Jazz Mass which was shown nationally on NBC Television); William [Bill] G.  Mack (high school band director at Park Hill, Director of Bands at Missouri Western University, President of Missouri Music Educators Association); Lowell H. Brunner (high school band director at Odessa and at Lindbergh High School in St. Louis); and Tom Price (high school band director at Cameron). Fendorf, Mack, Brunner and Price are all elected members to the Missouri Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame. Mack, Brunner and Price are elected members to the Missouri Music Educators Association Hall of Fame. Further indication of the band’s excellence may be found in the band library where compositions by Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg, Felix Mendelssohn, and similar composers were added during Burmeister’s tenure.

In 1947 the school was emerging from World War II, and the Navy training program held on the campus during wartime was being deactivated. The college was in the process of developing a new school spirit, and Dean I. L. Peters approached Clifton Burmeister, Director of Bands, and told him a school fight song was needed for the football game the next weekend. The composition, Go Mules!, was written over the weekend by Burmeister and has been adopted as the official school fight song. Mr. Burmeister was a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and later said that he patterned the song after the Northwestern Fight Song. The original score is framed and is on display in the Utt Music Building Instrumental Rehearsal Room. The current arrangement was written by David Holsinger in 1967. David was a graduate assistant with the band and a composition major. The extended second ending was written by Dr. Russell Coleman the same year.

The University Alma Mater was the winning entry in a 1962 contest and was composed by William S. Stoney, a Division of Music faculty member. The words are by Carole Grainger Gilbody, with arrangements by Dr. Russell Coleman.

The program remained relatively stable until a new era began under the leadership of Dr. Eugene Rousseau (1962-64). The university began to experience enormous growth and larger numbers of instrumental music majors arrived on campus.

Dr. Russell Coleman became Director of Bands in 1964. The first time a band from Central played at a state, regional, or national event was in 1969 when the Concert Band was invited to present a concert at the Southwestern Division Conference of the Music Educators National Conference in St. Louis. Previously, the only off-campus concerts by Central Bands were occasional tours to play at regional high schools.    This concert established the Central Concert Band as a major ensemble at the state, regional, and later national level. Since that time, they have been invited to present concerts at ten MMEA programs, a second SWMENC concert, a Southwestern Division Conference program for CBDNA, and twice at the International Convention of the American Bandmasters Association. Nineteen members of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association have been guest conductors with the Concert Band.

Beginning in the mid 1970s the band developed a close relationship with Frank Erickson and Claude T. Smith, nationally recognized composers of music for the concert band. The UCM Band recorded many of their new compositions for distribution by the Summit Publishing Company and the Wingert-Jones Publishing Company. The band also recorded over 150 new compositions for the Belwin Publishing Company for use in their promotions. The Frank Erickson and Claude T. Smith Library containing their publications is housed in the Utt Music Building.

During his tenure as Director of Bands, Dr. Coleman was elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. After his retirement, he was elected to the Missouri Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame and the Missouri Music Educators Association Hall of Fame.

In the Spring of 2010 & 2016 the University Wind Ensemble presented concerts in Carnegie Hall in New York City under the direction of Dr. Scott Lubaroff..

The Marching Mules gained widespread recognition through their performances at professional sporting events. The first performance was for a Kansas City Chiefs game in 1963 and since that time they have performed 40 times for the Chiefs at Municipal and Arrowhead Stadiums. Their performances have been covered by ABC, CBS and NBC television. The Marching Mules performed four times for the St. Louis Cardinals. Performances for the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Athletics Baseball teams including the opening game three times, the American League Championship Playoffs, and the World Series.

Graduates include numerous public school band directors, university applied music professors, and currently five university band directors. Two graduates of the program, Dr. David Holsinger and Dr. Gordon Ring, have been winners of prestigious national band composition contests.

The following have served as Director of Bands:

1899-1909 Robert L. Zoll

1909-1911 David Schlosser

1911-1913 Orley H. See

1913-1918 R. J. Meyer

1918-1919 Josephine Dixon

1920-1941 Don Essig

1941-1945 Al Bleckschmidt

1945 Marion Davies

1945-1952 Clifton A. Burmeister

1952-1956 Frank W. Lidral

1956-1962 Donald O. Braatz

1962-1964 Dr. Eugene Rousseau

1964-1996 Dr. Russell Coleman

1996-2004 Dr. Patrick Casey

2004-2005 Dr. Robert Gifford, Acting Director

2005-2017 Dr. Scott Lubaroff

2017-2022 Dr. Anthony Pursell

2022-Present Dr. Corey Seapy

 

Submitted May 5, 2010 by:

Dr. Russell Coleman

Director of Bands (1964-1996)

Central Missouri State University

Sources of material include information found in the University Rhetor housed in the University Kirkpatrick Library, and information provided by Frank Fendorf and Dr. Scott Lubaroff.