<p>Is anyone interested in joining the Penn Band when/if they get to Penn? We play at all the football games (home and away) and all of the home basketball games. We also play at lotttttsssss of other events year-round--this year we even got to play at Bill Clinton's rally the night before election night (prime seats and no waiting in the 4-block-long line). If you already play an instrument, COOL! If you don't already play an instrument, COOL! You don't need to be a brilliant musician, nor do you need to audition or anything. Post here or get in touch with me if you have any questions about Penn or the Penn Band!</p>
<p>I’m very interested in Jazz at Penn. I play tenor sax in high school and am looking for combos, small ensembles, or big bands to play of. Do you know anything like that? I know that the Jazz scene in Philadelphia is great, and I’d like to get involved.</p>
<p>Hey Ferlas,
Two things come immediately to mind: Jazz Combos and Penn Jazz. Penn Jazz is a legit ensemble (18 or so people, linked below) and they play at all sorts of stuff. That’s the higher end of the jazz spectrum, so if you’re looking for a semi-pro group, you found them. If you’re looking to mess around a bit and play some tunes, but not go into a lot of performance situations, you can take jazz combos as a studio course and work with a lot of technique and small group stuff. I’d totally recommend getting into a combo (also linked below). I have a friend in one and he’s having an awesome time. You should email either of the email addresses listed if you have questions, I’m sure they’d be glad to answer.</p>
<p>Penn Jazz:
[Penn</a> Jazz :: The Jazz Ensemble of the University of Pennsylvania](<a href=“HugeDomains.com”>http://www.pennjazz.com/)</p>
<p>Jazz Combos:
[University</a> of Pennsylvania - Department of Music](<a href=“http://www.sas.upenn.edu/music/performance/ensembles/jazz/index.html]University”>http://www.sas.upenn.edu/music/performance/ensembles/jazz/index.html)</p>
<p>When you say higher-end of the spectrum, do you mean more advanced players? I’m looking for a group that also performs outside of school functions, maybe like a group that could be labeled as “for-hire”. I consider myself pretty well versed on the sax, and I’d like to take my playing to the next level with more performances, but also learn the technique and “small group stuff” that is offered by jazz combos. Would you recommend doing both then? How skilled are the players (generally) in the jazz combo classes?</p>
<p>Penn Jazz is for hire, so they’re generally very talented. The players in the combos range from intermediate to advanced. I’d recommend doing both!</p>
<p>Is there a wind ensemble in need of an oboist?</p>
<p>Exactly the post I was looking for!
I just got in ED and the Penn band is one of the only things that I am SURE I want to do. My only quesiton is about time conflicts. Do rehersals/games often conflict with classes? I assume traveling for away events does. Do you ever have issues with this? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>@Madaboutx
Is there a wind ensemble that ISN’T in need of an oboist? I’m not very tight with the wind ensemble, but they have three oboes now (all undergrads according to this program from their last concert). I don’t know if any are graduating this year or if the ensemble is specifically looking for oboes, but it would probably be a good idea to contact Dr. Smith directly and ask! </p>
<p>Here’s a link to the Wind Ensemble contact page:
[University</a> of Pennsylvania - Department of Music](<a href=“http://www.sas.upenn.edu/music/performance/ensembles/windensemble/contact.html]University”>http://www.sas.upenn.edu/music/performance/ensembles/windensemble/contact.html)</p>
<p>@8yearquaker
I can answer your questions in one word: “Nope.” </p>
<p>First of all, congrats on getting accepted (and obviously the same to anyone else reading this, though 8yearquaker especially because they want to join the band). Now on to the good stuff: football season is our big season because we travel to all the away games and perform at halftime, etc. Rehearsals are Monday night in the band room (6-8) and Wednesday night on the field (9-10:30/11) and the games are on Saturdays (though the bus sometimes leaves on Friday afternoons). As you can imagine, most classes are between 9am and 6pm, which leaves the rest of your time open for openly and unabashedly jamming with the coolest people on earth. Most events outside of football season follow roughly the same schedule–most things happen after dinner.</p>
<p>Obviously, things will occasionally come up and you won’t be able to make it to rehearsal on time or something. It’s all good, the attendance policy is pretty lax: if you don’t attend the field rehearsal on Wednesday night, you can’t perform on the field during Saturday’s halftime show (though you can certainly still come and play in the stands). There’s not a “minimum” number of rehearsals you have to attend in order to be a part of the band. We’re busy people with busy schedules! We also play at home basketball games (men’s and women’s), lots of events, lots of receptions, and most years there’s even a special tour event. For instance, this year some of the band is playing on a cruise ship in the Bahamas.</p>
<p>I haven’t had any issues with scheduling yet, but there’s certainly still time to run into an exception. Most people find that band is easy to schedule around because the times are so regular and the attendance policies are so agreeable. Trust me, your schedule will fit in no matter what.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions regarding the band, post them and I’ll try and get to them. If you have any questions NOT regarding the band, feel free to email me any time!</p>
<p>EDIT:
Here, have a link to an awesome website! Explore.
<a href=“http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/pennband/[/url]”>http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/pennband/</a></p>