Mark Joseph, Christin Folker, Dylan Wynn and Victor Gowl arrived on the Penn State campus on Aug. 18 to try out for The Penn State Blue Band.
Joseph and Folker (2009 Lewisburg High School graduates) and Wynn and Gowl (2009 Shikellamy graduates) were put through a three-audition process — playing a short piece in order to determine playing skills; learning and executing Blue Band marching fundamentals, and playing and marching at the same time, playing the pre-game music while doing the Blue Band high step down the field.
The next day, the four had marching auditions from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with breaks for lunch and dinner. And then it was a waiting game.
“The last few hours were very nerve-wracking,” said Folker, who plays the clarinet. “It’s really hard to tell how you compare to everyone else, so I had no idea if I would make the cut or not. Honestly, I didn’t think I would.”
“While waiting to hear if my name was called, I experienced emotions I have never experienced before in my life,” said Gowl, who plays baritone. “I sat hearing last names being called and hoping to hear my name. The only emotion I felt was nervousness, extreme nervousness.”
For Wynn, a snare drum player, was also very anxious the last few hours.
“To be honest, I did not feel very confident about my chances. There were a lot of good players that auditioned, some with Drum Corps experience, and I knew I still needed a lot of work.” Joseph, who plays trumpet, also was not very confident about his try-out.
“Judging from the fact I wasn’t quite sure about the competition I was up against, it was a long few hours.”
But all made it and now, having been with the Blue Band for more than two months, the four have already come up with favorite routines. Joseph likes the Earth, Wind and Fire/Chicago show. Folker and Gowl’s favorite is the floating lion.
“The drill is beautifully written, and the music is also very fun and exciting to play,” said Gowl. Wynn’s is definitely the “Parade Order” — the drum line’s cadence used for parades.
Wynn explained that after each home game, the drum line does a performance called “Corner,” when they play parade order out on the field and generally perform some kind of skit in the middle of the piece.
“I would definitely advise anyone coming to a Penn State game to hang around for a few minutes after the game,” said Wynn. “You’ll be glad you did.”
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