YSU band showcases progress at annual celebration

August 30, 2015 at 12:08a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown State University Marching Pride band showcased its progress at its annual “Meet the Marching Pride” celebration in Stambaugh Stadium Saturday evening.

Family, friends and supporters of the band came out to watch the preview of the music the band will perform during the Penguin football games this fall. “It’s our first public performance [for the season]” said Brandt Payne, director of YSU Athletic Bands.

Payne said the event is to especially showcase what the students have learned for their parents and friends after

finishing up its preseason “band camp” rehearsals in August.

“We need to perform for people,” he said.

The band marched from Bliss Hall on Wick Avenue to the stadium. Payne said band enrollment is at 165 members, up by 35 from last year.

“It’s exciting,” he said.

During the early segment of the event, the director and the band ran through some drills in technique.

Julie Salancy of Salem and her husband, Jeff, came out to watch their son, Justin Salancy, now a junior, play the trumpet, which he’s been playing since the fifth grade.

“They’re like a little family,” she said. “They watch out for each other.”

The two plan to watch their son perform with the band in Pittsburgh next week as both are big “Steelers fans.”

Jeff said the marching band is a “safe haven” for his son.

Sitting not far from the Savlanksys, Patty Tevis and her daughter Claire, a freshman at YSU, also came out to watch a friend play saxophone. Tevis said Claire’s dad was also a YSU band alumni.

“We came to support the band,” Patty said.

The band will have some upcoming performances this week, including the Canfield High School Band Night at 7 p.m. Tuesday and the Penguins football away-game against the University of Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon.

“We’re ready,” Payne said.