Timing is everything, and a centennial anniversary is perfect timing. The University of Cincinnati (UC) Bearcat Bands program is turning 100 in 2020, and the university itself turns 200 in 2019.
These factors together result in great timing for the UC Bearcat Bands to launch a fundraiser. Officially, the campaign will launch by the spring semester with an online donation platform. The target goal will be $1 million, according to Chris Nichter, UC director of bands.
The funds will be used to “do a one-time sweep of our maintenance [and] inventory, then repair and replace any instruments that are currently in our inventory that can be salvaged … and then also to endow a fund for growth of the band for new purchases, ongoing repair, and maintenance,” Nichter says. The band program is planning additional ways to celebrate the centennial. To name just a few, some students are putting together historical material to create a coffee-table book about the UC band’s history, Tau Beta Sigma’s campus chapter will be commissioning a new piece of music to be premiered by the band, and there’s a plan to have a “big splash” at one of the football games, Nichter says.
