Albany State University Marching Band invited to 2016 Tournament of Roses Parade

ALBANY — The award winning Albany State University Marching Bandhas been invited to perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day 2016 in Pasadena, Calif.

The parade is a prelude to the annual Rose Bowl, which in 2016 will pit highly-ranked college football teams from the Pac 12 and Big Ten against each other.

The criteria for selection are based on “excellent musicianship, strong performance skills, interesting entertainment value and outstanding directorship” according to Richard DeJesu, chairman of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses.

“We are extremely pleased and excited,” said ASU interim dean of the College of Arts and Humanities Marcia Hood. “It will showcase the hard work that our students and faculty have put toward this effort as they do all the time. We are also extremely proud of them and excited to showcase our institution.”

Michael Decuir, director of ASU’s band, submitted an application for consideration last spring to the Rose Bowl committee. The application included a performance video and recommendation letters from retired band directors at Florida A&M, Jackson State and Tennessee State universities.

“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to participate in that parade,” Decuir said. “It’s the premier parade in this country.”

The invitation, which arrived earlier this month, gives the band 15 months to organize its trip to the West Coast. A fundraising committee will be established to develop a budget. Albany State faculty, staff, students and representatives from the Albany community will comprise the committee.

“From band staff and members, to drum majors and section leaders, everyone has done their part to make sure that we become the best band in the land,” said drum major James Worthy, a senior education major from Albany. “My classmates and I are beyond ecstatic about the invitation. Our hard work, dedication and discipline finally paid off.

“We cannot wait until the day comes that we will march through the streets of California. We are the Marching Rams Show Band, a standard of excellence.”

“We are thrilled that the band was selected. The band members’ participation in the Tournament of Roses Parade will be an experience that they will remember and cherish for a lifetime,” said Florence Lyons, interim chairwoman of ASU’s Department of Fine Arts.

The group, also known as “the soul of Southwest Georgia, the sound of Albany and the beat of Dougherty County,” includes 175 members.