Harsha Chaudhari

Once upon a time, there was this girl.... Oh wait, that's already been used. ;)

But really. This girl was pretty boring, and had no idea what she was doing. She also was a very poor friend maker. She needed help.
One fine day, a magical fairy god-mother drifted down the halls of the music department, and handed her a simple envelope! Could this be the answer to her prayers?! Could this envelope change her sad, pitiful life?! STAY TUNED FOR MORE!

Kidding.

The contents of that envelope did indeed change my life, and obviously for the better. At first I was nervous; I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and honestly, I knew nothing about TBS other than they brought water to marching band rehearsals! In the two years I have been involved with TBS, I've learned so many life lessons, and changed so much, I'm not sure where to even begin. Let's list some of them =D

1. Being apart of something special, makes you special... Said some wise person somewhere, But it's true! Every one of us is special, and I love that we can come together and share our unique qualities and make things even better.

2. TBS has helped make me a more confident person, and to realize I can do things for myself every so often.

3. On the flip side of that, I now know better ways to utilize my time and effort to help out and do things for other people!

4. Not all things have to be taken so seriously. Especially when it comes to music! It's what we love to do, we should be enjoying the work, even when it feels like you're drowning =P

5. The way you act does indeed influence those around you. Even when you don't mean to, people feel your vibes! It's a bit scary sometimes =)

There were supposed to be more, but I, like everyone else, have let my brain fry to much with homework. Ode to college.

Point being, I love Tau Beta Sigma. I love my sisters, I love music, I love the service projects we do, I love knowing I'm going to end my crappy Monday's with an awesome TBS meeting, I love our family, I love all of it. Even on days when we're so tired we hate it, I love it. I have created some of the most precious friendships within our bond, and I couldn't have asked for more.

-Harsha

Marie Smith

Thank you, TBS!!!!

As I grow older, I find myself looking back more, trying to figure out what got me to where I am, what made me the person that I am, and learning from that what motivates me to keep going forward. I remember being so nervous about doing marching band my sophomore year of college. I was nervous about not making friends, about not picking up the fundamentals of marching, not fitting in essentially. I remember getting the bid to be in TBS – I was so excited that I had been given the honor of the invitation. That year lead to so much personal growth – learning how to be a part of a service organization, stepping up to take leadership roles, and growing in music. TBS was a big factor in my decision to major in music, a decision that has changed my life infinitely for the better. If I had not been befriended by the wonderful people in TBS and built friendships with them, my life story would be much different than it is now. I wouldn’t have the self-confidence and intrinsic drive that I have now. I wouldn’t have the circle of friends that are the dearest friends and sisters that I’ve ever had. Thank you so much, Theta Eta, for being the family and support that I’ve been yearning for all of my life – and that statement is definitely not a hyperbole, really, no sarcasm. I would be a completely different person than I am now if I were not a member of TBS.

Love, Marie

Kaitlin M.

Once upon a time, 

there was a girl named Kaitlin.

She grew up in different places, Texas, Nebraska, Indiana, and Idaho.

She loved many things including (but not limited to): coloring, music, band, friends, food (specifically hamburgers).

One day she made the best decision ever, to come to Utah State.

There she did a lot of things, and one of them happened to be playing in the Aggie Marching Band. 

With the help of some great friends and some fun times, she even decided to join Tau Beta Sigma.

And she loves it.

TBS is such a great opportunity for anyone interested to make great friends and to make yourself a better friend. I love working with these wonderful ladies. It's amazing how much we can get done when we work together. I love being in the band, and I love giving to service to those people that have similar interests as myself. If there's one thing I'd like to be able to do for my entire life, it would be to be able to always put a smile on someone's face. I have no doubt that the work we do in TBS not only lightens the burdens of those around us, but also allows ourselves to feel those nice "warm fuzzies" of giving service. What a wonderful opportunity I have been given. So a great big thank you to all of my TBS sisters.

You rock.

Never change.

Love,

Kaitlin S. Murphy

Elena

Annicka skyping into our meeting.

MEETING TIIIIIIIIIME

It’s almost time for our weekly meeting, and I realized I probably should be getting to the blog post I volunteered for... :) It’s, what, negative 75 degrees in Logan tonight? Just kidding, more like -5ish. But that’s still awful. So I’m gonna cozy up in some sweats and fuzzy boots and get my butt in the car to drive up to the music building. And you know what? It’s gonna be great! TBS meetings always put me in brighter spirits, no matter how crazy life is at the moment. Because I get to be with my sisters who are all so uniquely beautiful and share with me a giant love for BAND.

Last week, our dear sister Annicka shot me a text and wanted to be a part of our meeting, even though she wasn’t even in Logan at the time. Instead, we had her skype in from Ontario, Oregon, her hometown, where she’ll be temporarily until her soon to be WEDDING in a couple of months! How exciting is that?! Anyway, we got her on Skype and I got to hold her in my lap :D (and on my head for some time) while we talked, planned, and organized everything coming up in this new year. It was so nice to be back and to be with everyone. And you know what I appreciate so much? Every single person there contributes and is responsible and respectful and things run really smoothly. And there’s a good dose of laughs, too. We were all delighted to hear Nika’s opinion, blasting through the laptop speakers louder than all of us combined!

I love TBS. Tau Beta Sigma, you’re great.

- Elena

Elections!!

So...um...I typed this up election night and then forgot to post it. My bad. =)


Dear Ana, I hope you're a better blogger than me.




Here we are.

Election night.

Oh the anticipation! The wonder! The blood, the sweat, the tears!

Drum roll please!! 

Bmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbmbm

President: Sarah Ruby

Vice President (Special Projects): Emily S.

Vice President (Membership): Elena

Treasurer: Marie

Secretary: Sherrie Lynn

Historian: Ana


 We're all looking forward to next year with extreme excitement. I know all these girls will do a splendid job. Next year will be great and I hope we, as a chapter and individuals, will continue to grow and flourish.

Many thanks to all those who ran and to Jaelise for her amazing job as president and her spectacular ability to make these long meetings go as fast as possible.

MLITB

Tri-State Band Symposium!!!

After much antici...pation and planning, followed by a little chaos, the USU Band department successfully made it through another Tri-State weekend!

The Tri-State Band Symposium brought in 90+ high school kids to participate in an honor band experience. The guest clinician this year was Mr. Randol Bass. You can learn about him and his music here.

There was a lot of work that went into this weekend, by faculty (obviously) the band office staff,and volunteers like TBS and KKY members - and other band members. Every bit of help was needed and certainly appreciated, as there's always a lot of running around with events like these.

Wind Orchestra performed a concert for the students on Friday night (they had arrived and auditioned that morning). It was the annual Collage concert, which features some chamber groups that exist in our program. This year, we featured the Horn Quartet, The Caine Brass Quintet, The Caine Woodwind Quintet, Trombone Ensemble, The Marching Tubadours, the Caine Percussion Ensemble, The USU Jazz Orchestra and the Clarinet Choir.

Wind Orchestra opened the concert with "Gloria" by Randol Bass, originally for orchestra and choir, but - in this case - written out for band. Mr. Bass conducted the piece. The second selection was "Oodles of Noodles" and featured a guest saxophone artist.

The concert closed by showing the audience the looney tunes cartoon "One Froggy Evening." Then the band played "One Froggy Evening", by Mr. Bass. He performed the part of the Frog, proving to be a more-than-talented singer. :)


The itinerary for the weekend didn't leave much time for sitting around, but it was - as it always is - a very rewarding experience (for us AND for the high school students).

THANK YOU to everyone who helped out over the weekend.

Now we can start looking forward to NEXT YEAR'S Tri-State Symposium!

USU Wind Orchestra Fall Concert

One For All and All For Fall - Featuring the Works of Percy Aldridge Grainger



50 years after Grainger's death, the USU Wind Orchestra performed a concert of his works on Friday, November 4 at 7:30pm, under the direction of Dr. Thomas P. Rohrer.

The USU Wind Orchestra has approximately 45 members and is made up of the finest wind and percussion students in the school.

The program on Friday's concert was as follows:

Mock Morris
Ye Banks and Braes O'Bonnie Doon (Our very own Keri on flugelhorn, making the piece!)
Country Gardens
Lincolnshire Posy (Some amazing piccolo-ing from our very own Megan)
Scotch Strathspey and Reel (Reel as in UN-"reel"istic euphonium runs at the end)

The concert was FANTASTIC. Audience members were invited to sit on stage with the musicians in order to give them an idea of the interaction that happens between the performers (you just don't get that from regular audience seating).

And OF COURSE, thanks to Tau Beta Sigma girls, there was a reception set up in the band hall for after the concert. Cookies and "colored water" (Root beer and Apple Juice).

A BIG thanks to Tori for ordering the cookies and making sure other materials were purchased. Also, thanks to all the TBS girls not in Wind Orchestra who set up during the concert and to everyone who helped clean up afterwards. :)

Sisters who played at the concert (great job to ALL):

Elena, Megan, Sarrong, Sarah, Tori, Keri, Sherrie Lynn, Kellie, Betsy, Janet, Emily "giggles", and pageant-winner Emily S.(who played Piano for the concert AMAZINGLY. Thanks to her, the band didn't go flat when singing).

Hopefully I didn't forget anyone. If I did, someone will edit this post and it'll appear as if I never did. :)

- Sarah Ruby Keene