The University of Pennsylvania Band

The University of Pennsylvania Band
The 2015–16 Penn Band
School	University of Pennsylvania
Location	Philadelphia, PA
Conference	Ivy League
Founded	1897
Director	R. Greer Cheeseman III
Members	100+
Fight song	"The Red and Blue, 'Fight on, Pennsylvania!, Cheer Pennsylvania!"
Website	The Penn Band

The University of Pennsylvania Band (commonly known as the Penn Band, or its vaudeville-esque performance name The Huge, the Enormous, the Well-Endowed, Undefeated, Ivy-League Champion, University of Pennsylvania Oxymoronic Fighting Quaker Marching Band) is among the most active collegiate band programs in the U.S. The organization is a part of the Department of Athletics at the University of Pennsylvania. Like most of the other 50 performing arts groups on the Penn Campus, it has no affiliation with any academic department and is sponsored by the Vice Provost's Office for Undergraduate Life. Typically ranging between 80 and 100 members every year, it is among the largest and most active student-run organizations on campus, performing upwards of 60 times during the academic year. Like most of the Ivy League Bands, the Penn Band is a scramble band.

Founded in 1897, the Penn Band stands among the oldest college bands in the country, and one of the nation's first traveling bands (1901). According to popular legend, the band began after a single cornet player named A. Felix DuPont played to the jeers of residents in the student quadrangle ("Shut up, frosh!"). A more understanding upperclassman, John Ammon, helped DuPont gather 27 volunteers who formed the school's first band.

Its history is marked with a sustained record of performance and achievement. In its first year, the Band performed twice for President William McKinley, as well as at the opening of Houston Hall, the country's first student union. The organization later became an integral part of Penn sporting events—one of the first college bands to play regularly at sporting events. It has been a staple at historic Franklin Field and the Palestra, and campus traditions such as ‘Hey Day,’ ‘Rowbottoms,’, and Commencement ceremonies.

Appearances during the 20th century include countless NCAA tournament games (including The NCAA Final Four in 1979), the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (one of the first collegiate marching bands to ever march in the parade), the 1964 New York World's Fair, and the Miss America Pageant Parade (on more than one occasion).