KU marching band alumni call experience worthwhile

Carl Johnson has won two Emmys for his work as a composer for animated films, but he still fondly remembers his time as a member of the Kansas University marching band.

That’s why Johnson, who played trombone in 1984-1988, is excited about the Feather the Flock campaign, which aims to raise $150,000 for new marching band uniforms by March 1. KU band officials have said the new uniform design will keep ties to past uniform designs while adding some flair.

“It’s important to keep uniforms that are in good repair, and it’s always nice to get some fresh design,” Johnson said. “The coolest thing was the style of marching and playing was still a very classic style of marching band, the way it had been for 100 years. They’ll be fine as long as they’re able to keep a strong link with the past.”

Johnson is part of a network of KU band alumni who have gone on to achieve success, both in the music world and in other fields.

For Bob Kipp, the best lesson wasn’t hitting the right notes or being in step. It was more of a lesson on life.

“In the band, as it is in many organizations, you tried to maintain your own individuality and simultaneously become part of a group,” he said. “That requires discipline to do that. And that’s true in business.”

That was Kipp’s philosophy as city manager for Kansas City, Mo., and now as vice president for Hallmark Cards Inc.

Kipp, a cornet player from 1948 to 1952, remembers playing touch football while waiting for early-morning rehearsals to begin.

“Even though I was studying engineering, most of my time in there was with the music majors,” he said. “It was great fun.”

The Kansas University marching band has a long tradition of marching down the hill before KU football games. Alumni of the marching band remember the fun times, as well as the discipline, involved in being a part of the band.

Others, like Johnson, have memories of being part of the Memorial Stadium atmosphere.

“I loved marching band,” Johnson said. “The neatest thing about it was feeling you were a part of the pageantry that goes with a football game, marching down the hill in the morning.”

Johnson’s film work includes “The Hunchback of Notre Dame II,” “Aladdin and the King of Thieves” and “Winnie the Pooh’s Grand Adventure.” But he cut his teeth by composing music for the Rock Chalk Revue, the annual fund-raising show put on by KU’s greek community.

“I work alongside graduates from Juilliard, Eastman, Indiana — some of the really famous music schools,” Johnson said. “For the most part, I can keep up with them.”

Paul Garner shared Johnson’s sentiments. Garner, a clarinet player during the early 1980s at KU, now plays full time with the Dallas Symphony.

“You can learn a lot through your teacher, with private lessons,” Garner said. “But the experience (of playing in public) is really more important. You need both. I felt at KU there was a good experience there.”

After learning of the fund-raising drive for uniforms last week, Garner said he planned to contribute.

“I think that’s a great project to get behind,” he said.

Other band alumni who have achieved success include:

  • William P. Foster, former band director at Florida A&M University, which has one of the nation’s strongest marching band programs.
  • Several current members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force bands.
  • Warren George, former associate dean of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
  • Jeff Fuchs, band director at the University of North Carolina.
  • Gary Foster, a studio musician in Los Angeles.
  • The late Claude Smith, a well-known composer.