Abigail Lauten

(UM News Service) At every University of Montana home football game, before the players come roaring out of the tunnel at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, 26,000-plus Griz fans are on their feet and cheering for the thunderous arrival of the Grizzly Marching Band.

“We are playing constantly – we’re always trying to fill the stadium with music,” said Grizzly Marching Band Director Kevin Griggs. “It gives the crowd some additional energy, seeing these UM students. They're excited to be there. The students in the band, of course, love being more than just a spectator and contributing to what gameday is.”

The popularity of the Grizzly Marching Band is reflected in its growth to 148 students this year – the largest membership since Dr. Griggs took the reins as director. The band typically averaged about 130 members each year during his tenure dipped to the low 120s during the most severe years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Griggs credits the growth in part to the band’s reputation for bringing a uniquely energetic, fun and raucous atmosphere that’s been known to even contribute to the team’s home field advantage. The band helps encourage the crowd to cheer so loudly at times that it caused the opposing team to false start.

“We just want to do our very best to support the team and create a home field advantage that is beyond anything any other school can offer,” Griggs said.

Every band member arrives on campus a week before school starts for Marching Band Camp. Then for the rest of the football season, practices are held three times a week for an hour and a half each, plus sectional practices. They also perform at all home and playoff football games, arriving early for morning dress rehearsal and a Griz Walk performance in addition to pre-game, halftime and post-game concerts.

Playing music to one of the largest crowds in Montana and contributing to the gameday atmosphere along with the dance team, cheer team and everyone else in the stadium is completely unlike anything most students have experienced before coming to UM.

“So many of the students come from the smaller rural schools in Montana. This is something completely different for them,” Griggs said. “The excitement level of being in a group that’s bigger than their entire high school gives them such a sense of community. They talk about the friendships they build and the ability to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”

To make the marching band accessible to most students, all members receive scholarships funds each year. Students also receive general education college credit. Uniforms, most instruments, band-related travel costs and game day lunches are free.

“We strive to be a place for everyone,” Griggs said.

One reason Griggs dedicated his career to teaching music is the role it played in his life, helping him build confidence and friendships as a shy kid. Seeing that same transformation develop in his students is rewarding as a mentor, he said.

“I have students constantly who come back to me and say it was one of the most meaningful experiences in their college careers,” he said.

In addition to relationship building, the marching band also helps students develop transferable skills like time management, teamwork, leadership and accountability, Griggs said.

Despite the common misconception that most students in the band are music majors, only about half have music-related degrees. In fact, the Grizzly Marching Band is one of only a few UM organizations made up of students majoring in nearly every degree offered on campus.

“Just about every major from every college is represented,” Griggs said. “We really depend on that. We couldn’t run a successful band with only music majors.”

Students say the friendships and connections made across every corner of campus is one of the best parts of being in the marching band.

Maisey Manhan, a sophomore music education major, said she especially appreciates the Grizzly Marching Band’s diversity of majors because it prevents her from feeling siloed within campus’s music world. Now in her second year, she still meets all kinds of different people at marching band practice all the time.

Manhan, who’s played percussion since fifth grade, grew up in Missoula attending UM band and summer camps. She came to know the University’s music professors and found them to be more knowledgeable and effective than those at other school camps she went to.

“UM, of all the colleges I’ve been to, has had the best music program,” Manhan said.

Manhan has only ever taken one year off from her music career to complete basic training for the Army National Guard before attending UM. She missed playing music so much that year that she’d sing solos in her head to make hours of rigorous training pass faster. She’s now part of the Grizzly Battalion ROTC program in addition to playing in the marching band’s drumline and taking on a student leadership role of band Social Media Manager.

Manhan’s favorite memory from marching band so far is going to Frisco, Texas, with the football team last year for the FCS national championship game. She recalls the rival school’s band being surprised that all three of the Grizzly Marching Band drumline players were women.

“I am just so big on ‘girls can play drums too,’’ Manhan said. “And I’m pretty sure we were louder and better than the other team.”

And Griz Nation too has taken notice. Manhan said everyone from football team members to alumni to parents come up to tell her how much they love the Grizzly Marching Band whenever she’s wearing her band gear.

“I didn’t know we were that popular,” she said.

Elle Vandzura, a senior environmental studies and sustainability science major from North Carolina, also joined the Grizzly Marching Band with hopes of building a community in college.

Homecoming in Missoula on Saturday marked the beginning of a sunny weekend and a home win for the University of Montana Grizzlies. (William Munoz/Missoula Current)
Homecoming in Missoula on Saturday marked the beginning of a sunny weekend and a home win for the University of Montana Grizzlies. (William Munoz/Missoula Current)
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Vandzura began playing the tenor saxophone in fifth grade and found a home in her high school marching band. When older friends went off to college and told her joining a university marching band was the best decision she could make, Vandzura knew she wanted to continue playing in college.

“I looked at mountain schools in North Carolina, but two out of the however many I looked at didn’t even have bands. That’s a deal breaker for me,” she said. “Never in my mind did I think that I wasn’t going to do marching band.”

Now in her final year at UM, Vandzura has made all her best college friends through the marching band.

She also took on a student leadership position as one of two drum majors, meaning she’s responsible for conducting the band during rehearsals and performances and leads them as they march onto the field.

One of Vandzura’s favorite times of year is Homecoming, when the marching plays long days all through the week and weekend. Vandzura helps keep the band in tight formation as they play at the Homecoming Parade, Yell Night Pep Rally and other spirit events.

“It’s the busiest week of my whole life – probably busier than midterms,” she said. “But it’s so rewarding.”

Marching band members get to reunite with familiar faces in the Alumni Band who’ve graduated from UM, but hold their time playing music at the University so dear that they return to their old stomping grounds.

That’s why being in the Grizzly Marching Band is such a cherished part of attending UM for Vandzura and other members – feeling like an active part of a campus community that persists after they exit the graduation stage.

“You’re so involved in the community,” Vandzura said. “It’s really cool to be part of something where people look up to you. Because in college, being in the marching band is cool.”