Wolverine Marching Band hits the road

The Grove City College Wolverine Marching Band, under the direction of Dr. Joseph M. Pisano, will take its show on the road this fall, as well as entertaining crowds and firing up the College’s football team at this season’s home games.

The band, which is one of the largest marching bands for any Division III sports college, will be making its first-ever appearance at the Collegiate Marching Band Festival at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, Pa., at 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 4. 

At the festival, college bands perform for one another, for enthusiastic crowds and for high school band members who are trying to decide if college band is something for them. The festival features more than 20 collegiate bands, 4,000 performers and over 6,000 spectators.

The band will also take to the highway on Halloween, when it will be featured in the Meadville Fall Parade at 6 p.m. on Oct. 31. The Meadville parade has been dubbed the biggest nighttime parade in Pennsylvania. 

On Nov. 28, the Marching Wolverines will be treading the streets of Pittsburgh in WPXI-TV’s annual city Holiday Parade. The parade starts at 7 p.m. and helps usher in the Christmas season in the city and will be broadcast live on Channel 11.

The band is also scheduled to play at the Mercer County Band Show at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Grove City High School’s football field and for the Keystone High School Band Festival on Oct. 12 in Knox, Pa.

The band will be featured at home football games this season at Thorn Field on the campus of Grove City College, beginning with the annual Night Game against Geneva at 7 p.m. Sept. 12. Other game day performances are set for: Sept. 26 (Homecoming); Oct. 24 (High School Band Preview Day); and Nov. 7. As a special musical add-on this year for games, College President Paul J. McNulty ’80 surveyed the campus for their thoughts on a tune to “pump up” the crowd at home games and they selected the Neil Diamond classic “I’m a Believer” The band will be performing the tune at the end of each third quarter.

The marching band’s fall season wraps up on Dec. 1 when the musicians gather to play seasonal songs before Rockwell Hall on campus for the College’s annual Light-Up Night. 

For more on the Wolverine Marching Band, visit www.gcc.edu/wolverineband.