utrgvtv UTRGV- Excitement and spirit fill the air as the university welcomes its first-ever marching band director who is set to lead the inaugural marching band at UTRGV.
The school recruited 150 band members throughout the year.
Right now, they are preparing their first shows and the university’s first-ever fight song.
Although the first football game is set for 2025, a couple of marching band performances have already been scheduled for this fall and the upcoming year.
Marching band director Ronaldo Rios said the band practices three days a week from five to seven p.m.
“We are in Brownsville on Mondays at Sam stadium. And then on Wednesday and Thursdays, we’re at the UT campus in Edinburg. At the track, there’s a track on campus, a soccer field” Rios said.
Rios mentioned he is working on UTRGV’S first fight song and hopes to complete it by the end of fall.
“It should be something that everybody can be proud of and that we can all embrace and all, you know, whenever we hear it, it just gets us, it uplifts us and gets us excited” Rios said.
Vice president and director of athletics Chasse Conque said Rios takes pride in his role.
“…And so, this the song reflects our university will reflect our university, and it’ll certainly reflect our athletic programs and something that you’ll hear played in probably every one of our sporting events” Conque said.
The band started practice one week before the fall semester kicked off, and now they have been rocking out for four weeks straight.
Mathematics education freshman and saxophone player Isella Torres tells us a little about physical demands.
“So, it’s a lot more than just playing. We also have to run sometimes through like conditioning our like body to be able to breathe while it’s moving and breathe correctly because band is a sport at the end of the day” Torres said.
Music education freshman and tuba player Raphael Gonzalez commented on the new director.
“He wants to show the best of us as students so that way we can be at our best. He encourages us, even if we do something a little bit bad, he’s there to cheer us up” Gonzalez said.
Rios said their main objective is to expand the band’s membership and their strategy involves captivating audiences through debut performances.
