2013 Newsletter
www.pittband.com/mky
2012-13 Officers:
President: Alex Petsis
Vice President: Sean Vins
Treasurer: Michael Stafford
Secretary: Lewis Darnell
Historian: Jim Sutter
Webmaster: Eric Olsen
Current Active Brothers:
Brent Baade, Robert Bingaman, Brandon Caridi, Sean Caulfield,
Michael Chott, Jon Donati, Lewis Darnell, Ken Gilson, Thomas Gower,
Charles Huysman, Zachary Kurtik, Patrick McGrath, Brett Morgan,
John Obeid, Eric Olsen, Phil Olsen, Matthew O’Polka, Alex Petsis,
Matthew Pincus, Steven Ruzzini, Alex Semidei, Michael Stafford, Jim
Sutter, Scott Thompson, Sean Vins, Terrance Walker, Alex Yohe
The season began when band members old and new and from nearby and far away
convened for the annual preseason band camp in August. This was the 23rd summer that Pitt
Band spent at Pitt’s branch campus in Bradford, Pennsylvania for band camp. After five days
and four nights in Bradford that were filled with a lot of hard work, but also fun, the band
returned back to Pittsburgh for the start of fall classes. On September 1, after the first week of
classes and practices, the Pitt Band took the field for a performance for the first time in the 201213 season. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions that delayed the start of the game, the band
did not get to perform the usual Pregame show. All members adjusted admirably and had the
opportunity to perform a James Bond themed halftime show for the crowd that had braved the
inclement weather.
Before the Pitt Band could take the field for another performance, they received a bit of
bad news. Following practice on the evening of September 10th, Jack R. Anderson, director of
the University of Pittsburgh Bands since 1995, announced that he would be stepping down as
director at the conclusion of the 2012-13 academic year. Though no one in the Pitt Band was
happy to hear this news, the members decided that they would all do what they could to make
Jack’s last year as good as it could be.
The next performance for the Pitt Band occurred at the Pitt home football game against
future Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Virginia Tech on September 15. Before the game, the
Pitt Band finally got the opportunity to play their traditional Pregame show in full. The football
team then pulled off an upset victory over the 13th ranked Hokies and the band played a halftime
show called Lost Legends, which was a medley of songs by famous artists that had passed away
in the last year. Selections included “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, “I Will Always Love You”
by Whitney Houston, and “Last Dance” by Donna Summer.
The next day, on September 16, Mu Kappa Upsilon held their first degree in the Band
Room in the basement of Trees Hall and welcomed five new pledges. The whole band then had a
quick turnaround as the next home game would be that Saturday, September 22. The Pitt Band
worked hard during the week to ensure that they would be ready to perform the Rock of Ages
halftime show. Selections from this performance include “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def
Leppard, “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey, and “Nothin’ but a Good Time” by Poison.
The next week the Pitt Band capped off a busy September with the first of three trips the
full band would eventually take for the year. After wowing the Buffalo Bills last season when the
Pitt Band played at their annual game in Toronto, Ontario, Canada last season, the National
Football League team wanted to have us back for another game. The Pitt Band travelled north to
Buffalo, New York for the Bills September 30th game against the New England Patriots. The Pitt
Band performed modified pregame and halftime shows for the Bills fans. Though the Bills lost,
the Pitt Band still had an enjoyable experience performing at their third NFL game in two years.
After returning from Buffalo, the Pitt Band began preparations for the annual
homecoming game on October 13. It was also revealed around this time that the kickoff time for
this game would be at 11 AM, one of the earliest start times in recent memory. On the morning
of the game, the members of the band dragged themselves out of bed much earlier than many of
them would have liked and proceeded to put on an excellent performance. Despite the early start,
the Pitt Band performed admirably in helping the university celebrate its 225th birthday as part of
the homecoming festivities.
Mu Kappa Upsilon’s bi-annual camping trip was scheduled for the next weekend. After a
busy first month and a half of the season, all of the brothers and pledges were ready to relax and
unwind. For the third straight camping trip Mu Kappa Upsilon made the trip to the Mountain
Pines campground in the Laurel Highlands for a weekend of food, football and brotherhood.
When the end of the weekend came, the brotherhood was ready to get back to work.
The band’s next performance would come that following Saturday, October 27th at the
Pitt football game against Temple. The Pitt Band was joined in this performance by area high
school marching band members for the annual high school band day. The Pitt Band performed a
medley of popular songs beginning with “We Are Young” by Fun. After the completion of this
tune, the high school students marched onto the field and played the final two songs, “Call Me
Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen and “All of the Lights” by Kanye West, with the Pitt Band.
Following this performance, the Pitt Band once again had a quick turnaround as the next
weekend the Pitt Band would travel to Indiana to support the Pitt football team as they played the
then undefeated and 3rd ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. On the way out the Pitt Band stopped
at Notre Dame’s campus for breakfast before moving on to Chicago where they would spend the
day and night before the game. After an enjoyable time spent in the Windy City, the Pitt Band
drove back to South Bend on the morning of the game. The Pitt football team played better than
expectations, but in the end couldn’t get the job done, succumbing to the Fighting Irish in three
overtimes. Despite this disappointment, the Pitt Band performed admirably, playing the tune
“Closer to the Edge” by 30 Seconds to Mars. This tune would be the selection for the Pitt Band
halftime shows for few games that remained in the season. Following the game, the Pitt Band
had a late dinner on Notre Dame’s campus before travelling overnight back to Pittsburgh.
With the one remaining home game not occurring until the end of the month of
November, the Pitt Band enjoyed a bit of a break. Practices would occur sporadically over the
month as the band prepared for the senior day festivities. The game was scheduled for November
24th the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Because of this, the Pitt Band’s last practice before the
performance was on Monday, five days before the game. Though this game would be the last
home game for the senior members of the marching band, it would also be the last game as
director for Jack Anderson. One tribute to Jack’s time with Pitt Band was planned and practiced
in secret. On a Wednesday night, traditionally a night given off for the members of the Pitt Band,
those members that could, gatherd for a brief secret practice. The purpose of this practice was to
learn the positions to spell out J-A-C-K during the senior day halftime show rather than the
expected P-I-T-T. Despite the long layoff and only practicing it once, the Pitt Band executed it
perfectly before moving into the traditional P-I-T-T to honor the seniors.
The next weekend, Mu Kappa Upsilon held its 4th and 5th degrees on Friday night and
Saturday morning respectively. All five pledges completed the pledge process, went through the
final degrees and Mu Kappa Upsilon welcomed five new members into their brotherhood:
Brandon Caridi, Sean Caulfield, Charles Huysman, Brett Morgan, and Alex Semidei. On the
same day as 5th degree, the Pitt football team defeated the South Florida Bulls on the road to win
their 6th game. This made the team bowl eligible and meant that the Pitt Band’s season wasn’t
quite done.
Unfortunately, the next day when bowl bids went out, the Panthers were invited to the
BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama to play the Ole Miss Rebels. This was now the
3rd consecutive year that the Panthers would play in this bowl game. Though this wasn’t the
game that anyone in Pitt Band wanted to go to, let alone for a 3rd straight year, it was still a trip
to a warmer part of the country than Pittsburgh in the middle of winter. Unlike the two past trips,
the Pitt Band left a day early and spent an additional night in Birmingham and practiced down in
Alabama the day before the game. The Pitt Band spent virtually the entire day of January 3rd on a
bus, arriving in Birmingham that night. The next afternoon, the band went to Samford University
and practiced on their field. Following this practice, the band then went into Birmingham for the
fan fest. After performing the band was given a couple of hours to enjoy the fan fest before
heading back to the hotel. The next morning the band packed up and headed for the historic
Legion Field, the site of the game. The band found a hostile environment as Ole Miss fans
outnumbered the Pitt faithful that one would be mistaken for thinking the game was a home
game for the Rebels. Despite the unfriendly atmosphere and a blowout loss for the Panthers, the
Pitt Band went out and put on one last good show to wrap up the 2012-13 season. Throughout
the whole season, the brothers of Mu Kappa Upsilon executed their prescribed duties to the band
admirably. Every practice saw the yard markers and ladders set up well in advance of its start.
The truck was loaded efficiently and accurately before and after every home game and trip and
when needed on trips.
On Friday January 18th, six new pledges completed their first degree and began the
process of attaining brotherhood in Mu Kappa Upsilon. This semester’s camping trip was held
the weekend of March 1-3 at Mountain Pines campground. Plans are currently under way for the
scheduling of 4th and 5th degrees and a potential alumni gathering in April in celebration of . To
stay up to date on this information and all other news relating to the current happenings in the
fraternity I encourage any alumni with a Facebook account to request to join our group for
Active and Alumni members: Mu Kappa Upsilon-Pitt. Any alumni with a twitter account can
also follow our twitter handle: @MKY_pitt. Finally the brothers of Mu Kappa Upsilon are still
selling Pitt Band zippo lighters for $25 each. For ordering information please contact _____.
ANEM
Jim Sutter
2012-13 MKY Historian