The Pride of Arizona Information

The Pride of Arizona (POA) is the University of Arizonas Marching band. The band was founded in 1902 as the UA ROTC Band and contained 12 members. Over the years, the band has performed in prestigious venues such as Super Bowl I and the Inaugural Parade of President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr.

The instrumentation of the Pride of Arizona is as follows, in score order:

The percussion section (Drumline) of the Pride of Arizona is battery only and consists of snares, tenor drums, bass drums, and cymbals.

There are three auxiliary units that perform with the Pride of Arizona: the Pom Line (dance, pom-poms), Twirling Team (batons), and Color Guard (flags, rifles and other equipment).

The Pride of Arizona historically fielded multiple shows each season, some of which had an overall theme of a particular artist or style, and some of which were selections of unrelated individual songs. Beginning in 1995, when Jay Rees became director, each season had one primary show, and sometimes a secondary show. These shows had tightly focused themes, which for the primary show was typically the music of one artist in the rock/alternative genre, often focusing on music from one or two albums of that artists career. Beginning with the Pink Floyd show in 1997, each primary show was also crafted to explore some aspect of the human experience, often featuring both musical and visual recurring motifs.

For years before 1995, the list below contains a mixture of artists and songs featured in the various field shows that year. From 1995 on, the artist or theme of each primary show is listed, and if there was a secondary show that year, it follows in parentheses.

Under Steve Steele:

Under Joe Hermann:

Under Eric Becher:

Under Gregg Hanson/John Yoon (Head Graduate Teaching Assistant):

Under Enrique "Hank" C. Feldman:

Under Jay C. Rees:

Under Alli Howard:

Under Chad Shoopman:

(Note: This list is not representative of each directors career with the University of Arizona, just their career as director of the marching band. Also, the title "Pride of Arizona" was first used during the James Keene era. The band was known as the "Best Band in the West" prior to that time.)

As the "ROTC University Band"

As the "ROTC University Band and Concert Band"

As one of the "University of Arizona Bands"

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