Many of our readers know that I marched during my undergraduate years at Northwestern University, where I received my journalism degree. Many of our readers might not know that I received my Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California (USC), where I didn’t march but had a close relationship with the Trojan Marching Band (TMB).
USC played a vital role in the birth of Halftime Magazine in 2007. I received guidance from many business professors as well as from TMB director, Dr. Arthur C. Bartner, and the associate director at the time, Dr. Tony Fox. Bartner happily opened doors to all of the resources available through the TMB.
After this 2019-2020 academic year, Bartner will retire from USC. He is leaving behind a band program that has been involved in the Olympics and six World Expos, supported the football team in more than 400 consecutive games, appeared on two platinum albums with Fleetwood Mac and recorded 16 of its own, been a guest artist at the Academy Awards and the GRAMMYs, performed with countless celebrities in movies, TV, and live events, and the list could go on.
Even with the responsibilities of being director of this in-demand band, Bartner agreed to be on Halftime Magazine’s advisory board. Whenever we featured college band directors, Bartner personally called them and congratulated them for their accomplishments and appearances in the publication. Now we honor him for the unprecedented second time as we celebrate his 50 years embodying The Spirit of Troy.
In the magazine’s “Direct From … The University of Southern California,” find out how Bartner took the band from obscurity to prominence.
As in every marching season, some people mark their last days, and some mark their first. My son successfully completed his first marching band season as a freshman at Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I enjoyed being a first-time band mom. I witnessed the hundreds of hours that high school students devote to the activity while balancing academic work and other commitments. I saw how each section bonded separately and then together with the entire ensemble. And I listened while my son expressed pride in the band’s improvements as well as in his own progress after each performance. Though he reluctantly joined the marching band this year, he has conveyed his desire to return next year.
So I say congratulations to both Dr. Bartner and to my son on this milestone year.
Keep on Marching,
Christine Ngeo Katzman
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
