The National Intercollegiate Band (NIB) is a concert band, sponsored by honorary band fraternity and sorority

Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi), is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricult ...

and Tau Beta Sigma, that performs every two years at the national convention of the two organizations. Organized in 1947, the NIB is the oldest national intercollegiate band in the United States, and is open to all collegiate band members regardless of membership in Kappa Kappa Psi or Tau Beta Sigma. Since 1953, the National Intercollegiate Band has been the resident ensemble of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma's Commissioning Program, which has added thirty new works to the band repertoire since its inception and is the longest-running commissioning program for wind band music in the United States. The National Intercollegiate Band has performed under the baton of some of the most renowned wind band conductors in the history of the ensemble, including William Revelli, Frederick Fennell, James Croft, and others, several of whom have been honored as inductees into the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors.

History

Early steps, 1922–1947

In 1922, Kappa Kappa Psi announced its plan to hold the first national intercollegiate band contest in American history. A brief dispatch in the 1922 ''Baton'' explained, "Sometime within the next two years the Kappa Kappa Psi Fraternity will hold a National Intercollegiate Band Contest. This enterprise will be the first of its kind ever attempted. As Music (sic) is becoming the foremost Art in America, our Fraternity aims to assist in so spreading the good work." This early announcement did not culminate in a contest, and the idea of a national intercollegiate band was not revisited again by Kappa Kappa Psi until the 1940s. In the meantime, the first Kappa Kappa Psi-sponsored intercollegiate band was established by F. Lee Bowling in 1933, with musicians from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

(home of the Alpha Iota chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi), the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

(Alpha Lambda), Colorado State College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts (Kappa), Colorado State College of Education (Alpha Theta), the

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on en ...

(Xi), and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

participating. In 1934, the University of Utah left the intercollegiate band and the University of Wyoming (Alpha Nu) took its place. The concerts held by this Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Band were sponsored by the local chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and many members of the fraternity participated in the ensemble. The first concert of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Band was held in February 1933, and the band gave annual concerts during Denver Music Week. Bowling left the band's managership in 1937.

National Intercollegiate Band established, 1947

Bowling was elected Grand President of Kappa Kappa Psi in 1941 and presented a plan to hold a national intercollegiate band concert, modeled after the Rocky Mountain intercollegiate bands. The delegation endorsed the plan, which was to be executed at the next biennial national convention in Stillwater in 1943, the silver jubilee of the fraternity. However, due to World War II, the 1943 and 1945 national conventions were not held, and so the next biennial convention was held in 1947. The first National Intercollegiate Band gave a concert on the evening of Friday, March 7, 1947. All delegates, officers, and visitors to the convention performed in the ensemble, which was augmented by Kappa Kappa Psi members from the Oklahoma A&M Symphonic Band so the band had a balanced instrumentation.

Grand First Vice-President William A. Scroggs, founder of the fraternity, conducted the band in their first piece, '' Semper Fidelis''. Max A. Mitchell, Grand Second Vice-President, conducted Leonard Smith's ''Spanish Caprice'', a piece for band and solo cornet.

Bohumil Makovsky Bohumil (Boh) Makovsky (September 23, 1878 – June 12, 1950) was a band director and head of the Department of Music at Oklahoma A&M College (now known as Oklahoma State University) from 1915 to 1945. He is considered "the Guiding Spirit" of Ka ...

, Past Grand President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, conducted his march, ''Kappa Kappa Psi'', and F. Lee Bowling conducted J. DeForest Cline's ''Kappa Kappa Psi'' march. The 1947 NIB was recognized as the first-ever intercollegiate band assembled with a national scope in the United States. Since 1947, the fraternity has presented the F. Lee Bowling Participation Award to the college or university who has had the most students participate in the National Intercollegiate Band, regardless of membership in Kappa Kappa Psi or Tau Beta Sigma. In the case of a tie, multiple awards are presented. The 1957 National Intercollegiate Band performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

on August 24, 1957, under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel William F. Santelmann, retired director of the

United States Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in th ...

. The band comprised 112 musicians from Utah, Florida, Maryland, Colorado, Ohio, Texas, Indiana, and New Mexico, and premiered Robert Russell Bennett's new work '' Symphonic Songs for Band''. In 1969, the fiftieth anniversary of Kappa Kappa Psi, there were enough performers to create two bands. The National Intercollegiate Symphonic Band, the top ensemble, was conducted by Norman Dello Joio and premiered his new work, ''Songs of Abelard''. The Symphonic Band also performed several other Dello Joio works, including ''Scenes from the Louvre'', ''Variants on a Mediaeval Tune'', and ''Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn''. The National Intercollegiate Concert Band was conducted by Past Grand President Jay L. Slaughter, and performed Makovsky's ''Kappa Kappa Psi'' march and several other works.

National Intercollegiate Marching Band, 2002

In June and July 2002, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma sponsored the first National Intercollegiate Marching Band, which traveled to the French Riviera, including the cities of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region on the French Riviera. In 2017, the c ...

, Aix-en-Provence,

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

, Antibes, and the Principality of Monaco. The thirty-five member band, directed by Past National President Dr. Michael Golemo, performed at Le Suquet in Cannes, in Nice, and in front of the Prince's Palace of Monaco."National Intercollegiate Marching Band French Riviera-Principality of Monaco Working Itinerary #4" (DOC). Email attachment in Despite being billed as the "first biennial" intercollegiate marching band, the program was dissolved by the joint national councils after the inaugural trip due to its high cost and low attendance, which was believed to be caused by a fear of traveling abroad after the September 11 attacks.

Guest artists

Featured composer

In 1953, Kappa Kappa Psi Grand President Hugh McMillen began the Commissioning Program to add new music to the band repertoire, beginning with a $500 commission of Don Gillis, who provided ''Ballet for Band'' for the NIB. The Commissioning Program is now the longest-running commissioning program for wind band music in American history, and has produced works that have secured a place in the emerging band canon and have garnered critical acclaim, such as Robert Russell Bennett's '' Symphonic Songs for Band'' and Karel Husa's Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Orchestra. * Don Gillis, ''Ballet for Band'' (1953) * Robert Russell Bennett, ''Symphonic Songs for Band'' (1957) * Paul Creston, ''Prelude and Dance'' (1959) *

Clifton Williams Clifton Curtis Williams Jr. (September 26, 1932 – October 5, 1967), was an American naval aviator, test pilot, mechanical engineer, major in the United States Marine Corps, and NASA astronaut, who was killed in a plane crash; he never went in ...

, ''Symphonic Essays'' (1963) *

Václav Nelhýbel Václav Nelhýbel (September 24, 1919 – March 22, 1996) was a Czech American composer, mainly of works for student performers. Life and career He was born the youngest of five children in Polanka, Czechoslovakia. He received his early mu ...

, ''Symphonic Requiem'' (1965) *

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

, ''Study in Textures'' (1967) * Norman Dello Joio, ''Songs of Abelard'' (1969) * W. Francis McBeth, ''The Seventh Seal'' (1971) * Karel Husa, ''Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Orchestra'' (1973) *

Martin Mailman Martin S. Mailman (30 June 1932, in New York City – 18 April 2000, in Denton, Texas) was an American composer noted for his music for orchestra, chorus, multimedia, and winds. Biography He was born in New York City on June 30, 1932. He studie ...

, ''Let Us Now Praise Famous Men'' (1975) * Claude T. Smith, ''Symphony No. 1 for Band'' (1977) *

Fisher Tull Fisher Aubrey Tull, Jr. (September 23, 1934 – August 23, 1994), known professionally as Fisher A. Tull, aka Mickey Tull, was an American composer, arranger, educator, administrator, and trumpeter. Life and career Tull was born in Waco, Texas, ...

, ''Prelude & Double Fugue'' (1979) * Mary Jeanne van Appledorn, ''LUX: Legend of Sankta Lucia'' (1981) * Robert E. Jager, ''Stars and Stripes Variations'' (1983) * James Barnes, ''Chorale Prelude: "Mein junges Leben hat ein End,"'' Op. 61 (1985) *

Jerry Bilik Jerry H. Bilik (born October 7, 1933 in New Rochelle, New York, United States) is an American composer, arranger, songwriter, conductor, and director of stage productions. Bilik studied with Tibor Serly who had been a student of Béla Bartók. He ...

, ''Overture Alfresco'' (1987) * David Holsinger, ''Symphonic Canticle'' (1989) * Anne McGinty, ''Athenian Festival'' (1989) *

Alfred Reed Alfred Reed (January 25, 1921 – September 17, 2005) was an American neoclassical composer, with more than two hundred published works for concert band, orchestra, chorus, and chamber ensemble to his name. He also traveled extensively as a ...

, ''Hymn Variants (based on " Lasst uns erfreuen, 1623")'' (1991) * James Curnow, ''Daystar: Symphonic Variations for Wind and Percussion'' (1993) *

David Maslanka David Maslanka (August 30, 1943 – August 7, 2017) was an American composer of Polish descent who wrote for a variety of genres, including works for choir, wind ensemble, chamber music, and symphony orchestra. Best known for his wind ensemble c ...

, ''A Tuning Piece: Songs of Fall and Winter'' (1995) * John Zdechlik, ''Rondo Jubiloso'' (1997) * Daniel Bukvich, ''Unusual Behavior in Ceremonies Involving Drums'' (1999) *

Timothy Mahr Timothy Mahr (born March 20, 1956) is a professor of music at St. Olaf College, and an American composer and conductor. Early life Mahr was born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Theory and Composition in 1977 an ...

, ''Mourning Dances'' (2001) * Jack Stamp, ''Bandancing'' (2003) *

Philip Sparke Philip Allen Sparke (born 29 December 1951) is an English composer and musician born in London, noted for his concert band and Brass band (British style), brass band music. His early major works include ''The Land of the Long White Cloud – " ...

, ''The Seasons'' (2005) *

Eric Ewazen Eric Ewazen (; born March 1, 1954, Cleveland, Ohio) is an American composer and teacher. Biography Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Ea ...

, ''Celestial Dancers'' (2007) * Mark Camphouse, ''Two American Canvases'' (2009) * Adam Gorb, ''Repercussions'' (2011) * John Mackey, ''(Redacted)'' (2013)

Guest conductors

;1947 : Roger Fenn : Hugh E. McMillen : Leonard Haugh ;1949 :William Revelli ;1951 :

Thor Johnson Thor Martin Johnson (June 10, 1913 – January 16, 1975) was an American conductor. He was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. He studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was president of the Alpha Rho chapter of P ...

;1953 : A. Austin Harding ;1955 :Frederick Fennell ;1957 : William F. Santelmann ;1959 :Paul Creston, Conductor-Composer : Manley Whitcomb ;1961 : Richard Franko Goldman ;1963 : Charles Brendler ;1965 :Václav Nelhýbel, Conductor-Composer ;1967 : Keith Wilson ;1969 :Norman Dello Joio, Conductor-Composer ;1971 :W. Francis McBeth, Conductor-Composer :William Revelli ;1973 :

Arnald Gabriel Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel (born May 31, 1925, in Cortland, New York) is the former Commander and Conductor of the United States Air Force Band, United States Air Force Symphony Orchestra, and Singing Sergeants from 1964 to 1985. In 1990, he was nam ...

;1975 :Martin Mailman, Conductor-Composer : William C. Moffitt ;1977 : Carmen Dragon ;1979 : Donald E. McGinnis ;1981 : Gary T. Garner : Terry Milligan ;1983 : Donald Hunsberger :James Sudduth ;1985 : William P. Foster : Robert E. Foster ;1987 : Harry Begian :John Wakefield ;1989 :John Paynter : Joseph Missal ;1991 : Ray E. Cramer ;1993 : Paula Crider ;1995 :James Croft ;1997 :John Zdechlik, Conductor-Composer : John L. Whitwell ;1999 : David Waybright ;2001 : L. Bryan Shelburne :Timothy Mahr, Conductor-Composer :Julie Giroux, Conductor-Composer ;2003 : Don Wilcox :Jack Stamp, Conductor-Composer : Alan L. Bonner ;2005 : Michael Haithcock ;2007 : Frank B. Wickes ;2009 :

John R. Bourgeois Colonel John R. Bourgeois is a former conductor of the United States Marine Band from 1979 to 1996, as well as composer / arranger of American music. Bourgeois also currently serves as vice president of the board of trustees of the Sinfonia Educ ...

;2011 : Craig Kirchhoff ;2013 : Anthony Maiello

Guest performers

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the National Intercollegiate Band featured professional guest artists as soloists with the band. Two of these, T. N. Retif and Raymond Crisara, were featured soloists in that year's commissioned piece: Retif on Dello Joio's ''Songs of Abelard'' and Crisara on Karel Husa's Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Orchestra. * Sigurd Raschèr,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

(1967) * Leonard B. Smith, cornet (1969) * T. N. Retif, baritone voice (1969) * John D. Mohler, clarinet (1971) *

Raymond Crisara Raymond Dominick Crisara (October 19, 1920 – May 25, 2014) was an American trumpeter and educator. He was the principal trumpet with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1941 to 1943. He was associate first trumpet with the NBC Symphony from ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(1973)

References

{{Kappa Kappa Psi articles Kappa Kappa Psi Tau Beta Sigma Wind bands Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 1947 Classical music in the United States 1947 establishments in Oklahoma University concert bands