Mustang Band: Celebrating 100 years of spirit
They are the first students to arrive in the stands at Ford Stadium and the last to leave. Their spirit and traditions rival any campus organization.
Meet the hub of SMU spirit – the Mustang Band, making music for 100 years. The Mustang Band celebrates its centennial at its annual Homecoming performance, Pigskin Revue, on Nov. 3, 2017. Festivities begin at noon in the Mustang Band Hall with a band alumni mini-reunion, followed by the Centennial Celebration at 6:30 p.m. in the Mack Grand Ballroom in Umphrey Lee. Pigskin Revue, a student-produced music, dance and comedy show, begins at 8:15 at McFarlin Auditorium. For tickets and to register, click here.
On a typical fall afternoon, band director Don Hopkins ’82 rolls up his sleeves to lead a practice in the new Mustang Band Hall, dedicated in 2014 in the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. Students file down the stairs into the band headquarters where Tucker leads the band into the beginning notes of Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman.
Band members practice five hours a week in addition to game day commitments. Most band members and the twirler are supported by scholarships. The 75-member Mustang Band prides itself on its uniqueness among other university bands as well as among SMU student organizations.
“The band has always been small,” Hopkins says. “But with all the brass and saxophones, we hold our own.”