From marching band beginnings to an ensemble of excellence

BY BRENNA DEMPSEY / Multimedia Journalist

The Tarleton State University Wind Ensemble has come a long way from the original 9-person marching band founded in 1919 under the Corps of Cadets.

A. J. Ault led the program for the first year before the most notable director Dennis G. Hunewell took over and opened the doors for the bands to become what they are today.

Part of their growth has been branching off from the Corps of Cadets and starting with their new name: the Wind Ensemble. This change happened under Jonathan Hooper, who served as the director from 1986 to 2008.

The Wind Ensemble recently performed at the 125th Commemorative Ceremony where they played pieces they worked diligently to perfect. These students delivered a performance that gave extra life and history to the event.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge and challenges are always fun,” Alan Sigala a member of the ensemble and trombone player said. “You get pushed a lot and sometimes that’s what you need in order to find out what type of player you are.”

The amount of time these students put into practice is not talked about that often but without their effort, the band programs would not exist and would not be celebrating their 105th anniversary.

“Most of us are in a practice room at least two to three hours a day, every day of the week. Some of us more than that, some of us less than that,” musician Kris Torres said. “But the majority of us are constantly in a practice room trying to get ready for concerts and everything.”

The ensemble is built up of 45 members who come from various backgrounds. Dr. David Robinson is the current band director.

“A lot of those people are music majors, so people that are studying to be either professional musicians or music educators, a lot of those people will be band directors someday, but not all of them,” Robinson said. “Some of them aren’t. We have people from majors all over campus, we have some engineering majors, some education majors, and some ag majors, it's a very very representative group.”

Jared Parsons is an accounting major and an active member of the Wind Ensemble. 

“I like getting to make music with strong musicians,” Parsons said “It's an experience I don’t think I'll get to have post-college”

Over the past decade, they have reached national recognition.

In 2014 they performed at the gala concert at Carnegie Hall and in 2022 they were invited to the Texas Music Educators Association Convention which is a big deal for the Wind Ensemble.

“We submitted a tape and then every other big program in Texas submitted a tape and they take one or four every year and we happened to be one of the three that year,” Robinson said after receiving the invitation. 

This was one of the first events of that caliber the Wind Ensemble had been a part of, but it certainly will not be the last.

The future holds many exciting milestones for the Wind Ensemble with their upcoming album set to be professionally released on Spotify and iTunes in November 2024. More information about that will be released by the band program later on.

Their first formal performance of the semester will be held on September 26 in the Clyde H. Wells Fine Arts Center. The performance will be combined with the traditional ULTRA Club dinner. The theme of the performance is Renaissance reimagined.

To watch this kick-off event, attendees can call the box office for price information.

“Everything we play is going to be influenced by the Renaissance period from 15th 16th century Italy in some way,” Robinson said. A notable piece being played is The Pines of Rome written in 1924. This will be the 100th anniversary of the piece.

Through the years many people have been inspired by the Tarleton State University’s Wind Ensemble. Brooke Lane a music education major was one of those people.

“The high level of performances they have to offer and working under amazing musicians like our director David Robinson and working with a bunch of amazing musicians Tarleton has here,” Lane said. “It is an honor to be in that ensemble”