Queen's Bands
Encyclopedia
The Queen's Bands, established in 1905, is the largest and oldest current university marching band
in Canada
. They make their home in Grant Hall
on the campus of Queen's University
in Kingston
, Ontario
, Canada. This 2011-2012 season, the Bands operations are managed by students, and during performances the Bands are led by a Drum Major
.
The Bands play a large role in promoting and maintaining school spirit at Queen's. The Bands comprise six distinct units (hence the pluralization of "Bands"): a pipe band
, a drum corps
, a brass band
(which includes woodwinds as well as brass instruments), Highland dancers
, the colour guard and cheerleaders
including the Queen's mascot Boo Hoo the Bear
. They are led by a drum major
and the colour guard. The Bands perform pre-game and half-time shows at all Golden Gaels
football games, and lead the crowd in singing the Oil Thigh
after the Gaels score a touchdown. For home games, the Bands lead a parade of Queen's football fans from the main campus to the football stadium at the West Campus. Once football season ends they are active in festive parades, most notably the Toronto Santa Claus Parade
for Christmas, and the Montreal St. Patrick's Day Parade. In the summer of 2012 they will be performing at the Calgary Stampede
. They are also active during Frosh Week, and have also performed internationally, for example in the New Orleans Mardi Gras
parade and the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade. They wear traditional Scottish military dress, which the Bands recently purchased for $250,000 with the gracious financial assistance of many donors, most notably the Alma Mater Society of Queen's and former Principal Bill Leggett.
The Queen's Bands is a volunteer organization, composed mainly of current undergraduates, but it also features some graduate students and occasionally some alumni among its ranks. Members of the Bands come from a wide range of musical backgrounds, some with very little musical training before joining. The main goal of the Bands however, is to have fun and promote the Queen's spirit, so this disparity in musical proficiency does not usually cause a problem. In any given year, the band is likely to have only one or two music majors
.
The Bands' office is located in the John Deutsch University Centre, while their equipment vault is located in the basement of Grant Hall
.
(Queen's chancellor from 1960 to 1974), suffered verbal abuse on parades to the football field and were ejected from the equipment room, where they practised, by the football team. The group dissolved after just two years, and it was not until 1920 that a marching band reappeared. The revived band, unlike the original group, had its own instruments and even uniforms: white duck trousers, tri-colour sweaters, and Queen's tams
.
The Queen's University of Kingston, Ontario tartan
associated with the university and its pipe band includes the colours of six Queen's academic hoods: blue (Medicine), red (Arts & Science), gold (Applied Science), white (Nursing Science), green (Commerce & MBA), and Purple (Theology). The now traditional kilts and doublets were adopted only after the Second World War (the tartan
worn by the Bands is the Royal Stewart
(the official tartan of the Canadian royal family
); they are one of a select few non-military units to wear this exclusive tartan). A pipe band was added to the troupe in 1925, but did not become a permanent fixture until 1938, at which time highland dancers also appeared. It is unclear when cheerleaders first joined the Bands. "Rooters clubs" were formed early this century to lead students in cheers at Queen's games and appear to have gradually become informally, and then formally, linked with the Bands. Currently, the Bands Cheerleaders is the only student run "spirit group" in the OUA
. The Bands has taken care of the mascot of Queen's University
, Boo Hoo the Bear
, since 1980.
Today the Bands are one of the most well-known groups on campus.
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. They make their home in Grant Hall
Grant Hall
Grant Hall is a landmark on the campus of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is located on University Avenue, just north of Bader Lane....
on the campus of Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada. This 2011-2012 season, the Bands operations are managed by students, and during performances the Bands are led by a Drum Major
Drum Major
A drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major, who is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or corps, is responsible for providing commands to the ensemble regarding...
.
Pipe band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....
, a drum corps
Drum and bugle corps (modern)
A drum and bugle corps, also known as a drum corps, is a musical marching unit consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments, and color guard. Typically operating as independent non-profit organizations, drum corps perform in competitions, parades, festivals, and other civic functions...
, a brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
(which includes woodwinds as well as brass instruments), Highland dancers
Scottish highland dance
The term Highland dance or Highland dancing is used today to refer to a style of athletic solo dancing which developed in the Gaelic Highlands of Scotland...
, the colour guard and cheerleaders
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
including the Queen's mascot Boo Hoo the Bear
Boo Hoo the Bear
Boo Hoo the Bear is the mascot of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Boo Hoo wears a vest and tam in the Royal Stewart tartan.- History :...
. They are led by a drum major
Drum Major
A drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major, who is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or corps, is responsible for providing commands to the ensemble regarding...
and the colour guard. The Bands perform pre-game and half-time shows at all Golden Gaels
Queen's Golden Gaels
The Queen's Gaels are the athletic teams that represent Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Team colours are blue, red, and gold. Its main home is Richardson Memorial Stadium on West Campus....
football games, and lead the crowd in singing the Oil Thigh
Oil Thigh
The Oil Thigh is the name given to the anthem and fight song of Queen's University and its sports teams, the Queen's Gaels. Although the song's official title is Queen's College Colours, it is almost universally referred to by the first words of the Gaelic chorus.-Etymology:Oilthigh is the...
after the Gaels score a touchdown. For home games, the Bands lead a parade of Queen's football fans from the main campus to the football stadium at the West Campus. Once football season ends they are active in festive parades, most notably the Toronto Santa Claus Parade
Toronto Santa Claus Parade
The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is a Santa Claus parade held annually in mid-November in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. More than a half million people attend the parade every year. The parade starts at 12:30pm and ends approximately 3:30pm...
for Christmas, and the Montreal St. Patrick's Day Parade. In the summer of 2012 they will be performing at the Calgary Stampede
Calgary Stampede
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway,...
. They are also active during Frosh Week, and have also performed internationally, for example in the New Orleans Mardi Gras
New Orleans Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
parade and the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade. They wear traditional Scottish military dress, which the Bands recently purchased for $250,000 with the gracious financial assistance of many donors, most notably the Alma Mater Society of Queen's and former Principal Bill Leggett.
The Queen's Bands is a volunteer organization, composed mainly of current undergraduates, but it also features some graduate students and occasionally some alumni among its ranks. Members of the Bands come from a wide range of musical backgrounds, some with very little musical training before joining. The main goal of the Bands however, is to have fun and promote the Queen's spirit, so this disparity in musical proficiency does not usually cause a problem. In any given year, the band is likely to have only one or two music majors
Queen's School of Music
The Queen's School of Music is part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The School of Music is housed on the main campus of the University within Harrison-LeCaine Hall on Bader Lane. Founded in 1969 as the Department of Music, students at the...
.
The Bands' office is located in the John Deutsch University Centre, while their equipment vault is located in the basement of Grant Hall
Grant Hall
Grant Hall is a landmark on the campus of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is located on University Avenue, just north of Bader Lane....
.
History
The Bands was founded in 1905, when a group of first-year students decided to form a marching brass band "to help things along at football games." The idea did not gain easy acceptance. The 12 original musicians, which included John Bertram StirlingJohn Bertram Stirling
John Bertram Stirling was one of Canada's leading engineers and businessmen in the first half of the 20th century.He was born in Dundas, Ontario and educated at Queen's University , where, among other things, he was a founding member of the Queen's Bands. He served with the Canadian Engineers in...
(Queen's chancellor from 1960 to 1974), suffered verbal abuse on parades to the football field and were ejected from the equipment room, where they practised, by the football team. The group dissolved after just two years, and it was not until 1920 that a marching band reappeared. The revived band, unlike the original group, had its own instruments and even uniforms: white duck trousers, tri-colour sweaters, and Queen's tams
Tam o'shanter (hat)
A Tam o' Shanter is a Scottish style hat originally worn by men. The hat is named after a character in a poem written by Robert Burns in 1790...
.
The Queen's University of Kingston, Ontario tartan
Tartan
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns...
associated with the university and its pipe band includes the colours of six Queen's academic hoods: blue (Medicine), red (Arts & Science), gold (Applied Science), white (Nursing Science), green (Commerce & MBA), and Purple (Theology). The now traditional kilts and doublets were adopted only after the Second World War (the tartan
Tartan
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns...
worn by the Bands is the Royal Stewart
Royal Stewart Tartan
The Royal Stewart Tartan is the best known tartan of the royal House of Stewart, and is also the personal tartan of Queen Elizabeth II. It is appropriate for all subjects of Elizabeth II to wear the Royal Stewart tartan , in much the same way that clansmen may wear the tartan of their clan chief...
(the official tartan of the Canadian royal family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
); they are one of a select few non-military units to wear this exclusive tartan). A pipe band was added to the troupe in 1925, but did not become a permanent fixture until 1938, at which time highland dancers also appeared. It is unclear when cheerleaders first joined the Bands. "Rooters clubs" were formed early this century to lead students in cheers at Queen's games and appear to have gradually become informally, and then formally, linked with the Bands. Currently, the Bands Cheerleaders is the only student run "spirit group" in the OUA
Ontario University Athletics
Ontario University Athletics is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases about those programs and events to the public...
. The Bands has taken care of the mascot of Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
, Boo Hoo the Bear
Boo Hoo the Bear
Boo Hoo the Bear is the mascot of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Boo Hoo wears a vest and tam in the Royal Stewart tartan.- History :...
, since 1980.
Today the Bands are one of the most well-known groups on campus.