1/14/04

AUBURN UNIVERSITY MARCHING BAND NAMED TOPS IN UNITED STATES

AUBURN -- The Auburn University Marching Band has been named the 2004 winner of the Sudler Intercollegiate Marching Band Trophy, the nation's highest and most coveted award for college and university marching bands.

The award -- considered the "Heisman Trophy" for marching bands -- was announced Dec. 18 at the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.

It will be presented Sept. 25, 2004, at halftime of the Auburn-Citadel football game and in conjunction with the 2004 Auburn Alumni Band Reunion.

Officers of the John Philip Sousa Foundation will be in Auburn to make the presentation.

The Sudler Trophy is the only national collegiate award given by The Sousa Foundation to a university band that has a proven record of "excellence" for its marching band program.

The purpose of the Sudler Trophy "is to identify and recognize collegiate marching bands of particular excellence that have made outstanding contributions to the American way of life."

Administered by the John Philip Sousa Foundation, the Sudler Trophy is "awarded annually to a college or university marching band which has demonstrated the highest of musical standards and innovative marching routines and ideas, and which has made important contributions to the advancement of the performance standards of college marching bands over a number of years."

The selection process begins with ballots being sent to all marching band directors at NCAA schools. The ballots are returned to a 25-member selection committee of college band directors which makes the final selection each December.

The Sudler Trophy was designed by artist Ed Blackwell and created by Dieges and Clust, who also produce the Heisman Trophy. Consisting of a bronze drum major astride a football stadium and mounted on a marble base, the trophy stands 22.5 inches high, the length of a typical marching band step. In addition, the award also consists of a personalized certificate for each member of the band, a plaque for the school, and additional plaques for the incumbent director and each of the former marching band directors.

Some of the marching band winners over the past 20 years have included the University of Michigan, University of Georgia, University of Texas, Florida A&M University, University of Oklahoma, UCLA, University of Nebraska, Texas Tech University, Ohio State University, Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University.

The traveling trophy will be displayed at the awards ceremony and will remain with the Auburn Band for one year.

The Sudler Trophy and presentation procedures are endowed by Chicago philanthropists Louis and Virginia Sudler.

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jan04:AU-band

CONTACT: Richard Good 334/844-4179 or Vinson.