Every Thursday, the 25 active members of UC Pep Band cram their instruments into the walk-in-closet-sized Ratner Poolhouse classroom to rehearse their own renditions of iconic rock and pop songs. It’s UChicago, so of course the Pep Band plays “Golden” from K-Pop Demon Hunters instead of “The Final Countdown.”
Most of the band’s music features original arrangements by UChicago graduate and director of the Pep Band Jenny Haar (A.B. ’18), giving them the ability to play new songs that have never been played by a big band. Every year the band picks specific themed music for the various events it performs at throughout the year. In the past, the band has played songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters, Undertale, and Arcane. Next year, it will be adding music by artists like Billy Joel and Green Day and movies like Grease to its repertoire.
While the Pep Band features flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, mellophones, trombones, and drums, it has no typical rock band instruments, creating a unique challenge for arranging popular songs.
“Trumpet is doing harmonica there,” Haar said in between rehearsals of Joel’s “Piano Man.” “Of course, why wouldn’t I have guessed that?” the group’s trumpet player joked in response. “Oh, I’m the piano man?” said the band’s piccolo player.
Attendance at UChicago sporting events often leaves something to be desired, according to Haar. However, “if a school is fairly close to here, there will actually be a good away crowd,” Haar said. While UChicago might not have the biggest sports culture, the Pep Band hopes its music helps attract attention to games.
“We like to think we bring in traffic,” said fourth-year Lola Lambert, copresident of the Pep Band. “For a lot of the games, I actually have spectators come up afterwards and tell me that they enjoyed the band specifically. So that’s nice,” Haar added.
Importantly, the Pep Band’s performances aren’t just limited to UChicago sporting events. The group also performs at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, which draws over 100,000 attendees per year, as well as at UChi-Con.
The Pep Band is the only no-cut, no-audition ensemble at UChicago, according to Lambert. This policy has helped the band build a tight-knit, welcoming community and enables students to continue—or reconnect with—their passion for music in a stress-free environment, a needed juxtaposition to the stresses of UChicago.
“I have so much anxiety [that] I cannot audition, I would literally die, so I joined Pep Band” said fourth-year Rocky Lowenthal, copresident of Pep Band. “I actually started on trumpet, but they needed a mellophone player—I thought for one football game which was not correct—but I have grown to really like this instrument.”
Multiple members also said that they joined Pep Band because they missed the experience of being in a band. “I didn’t join my first year because I heard [the band] playing at a football game, and I thought, ‘Way too similar in high school, I don’t need to relive that,’” second-year Grant Armstrong said. “But now I’m far enough into college that I’m nostalgic for high school.”
Overall, the Pep Band’s lighthearted and fun community, mixed with its members’ commitment to their instruments and mastery of their craft, perfectly illustrates the work-to-quirk balance that makes UChicago students so unique.
