Marching Illini
| Marching Illini | |
|---|---|
| School | University of Illinois |
| Location | Urbana-Champaign, IL |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Founded | 1867 |
| Director | Barry L. Houser |
| Members | 375 |
| Fight song | "Illinois Loyalty (school) and Oskee Wow Wow (fight)" |
| Uniform | Navy blue pants and jacket, a white and navy shako hat with a navy plume and an orange "UI" logo in front, one orange and white baldric crossing the torso, an orange cape bearing the name "Illini" in white, white gloves and gauntlets, white spats, and black shoes |
| Website | http://marchingillini.com/ |
The Marching Illini (MI) is the marching band of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Marching Illini is an organization which annually includes approximately 375 students enrolled in the University of Illinois. Part of the College of Fine and Applied Arts and the School of Music, the Marching Illini represent virtually every college, discipline, and major on the University's diverse Urbana-Champaign campus.
The band primarily performs before, during, and after University of Illinois home football games. The band also performs an indoor concert at the Assembly Hall featuring special lighting effects, performances by individual sections, and slightly pithy comic routines. Other performances include a drill for the Illini Marching Festival, halftime performance for the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, halftime performances at postseason bowl games, and an annual away performance at the home football game of another Big Ten school. The MI does not typically perform for parades other than marching to and from the stadium for home games, the annual Homecoming parade, and when marching to and from Foellinger Auditorium where they play several outdoor concerts for University events. In addition the Marching Illini have performed at the 1992, 1995, 1998, 2008, 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland and the 2015 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois houses a collection of University Band recordings. The audio recordings consists of reel-to-reel tapes of performances and recording sessions from 1940-1987.
Instrumentation of the Marching Illini is based upon the composition of a typical concert band, but modified in several ways to support outdoor performance. Piccolos are used instead of flutes. Mellophones replace the [horns]. A larger-than-usual section of metal sousaphones adds a deeper low brass sound, not to mention visual interest. The band has a higher-than-usual proportion of low- and mid-range brass instruments (baritone, trombone, sousaphone, and mellophone) and the complete woodwind section that allows the band to play traditional concert band repertoire (unlike all-brass marching bands). An auxiliary color guard and female dance squad (dubbed the "Illinettes") contribute another visual element to the band's performances.
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