Friends and Family Show Set for Aug. 24
Cassidy Nalepa, a 2003 راة«س°؟â music education graduate, has been selected to serve as the interim director of “The Legend,” the راة«س°؟â Marching Band, and as interim associate director of Bands in the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
Nalepa, a resident of Slippery Rock, comes to راة«س°؟â from Ball State University, where she served as a bands graduate assistant while completing studies for her doctorate in conducting and music education; her anticipated graduation date is December.
In addition to her راة«س°؟â degree, she graduated magna cum laude with a master’s degree in arts administration from Drexel University, where she researched “Orchestra education programs and building a future audience for classical music in the 21st century”; and magna cum laude with a master of music in conducting degree from West Chester University.
“We are very pleased and excited to welcome Cassidy to the position and back home to راة«س°؟â,” Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, Media, and Public Affairs Curtis Scheib said. “She brings a great deal of experience and enthusiasm to the position and a clear passion for music education and for student excellence,” he said.
راة«س°؟â Marching Band camp is currently in full swing and continues through August 24, and members of the community are invited to attend a free “Friends and Family” show with the Marching Band on August 24 at 7:00 p.m. in Miller Stadium.
Zach Cheever, who held the position of director of the marching band and associate director of bands at راة«س°؟â since 2022, left the university in July for a position at his alma mater, Austin Peay University.
“Zach was an outstanding and talented musician, conductor, and educator who developed several new initiatives to grow the marching band while focusing on his students to help them to develop their potential. His willingness to have the marching band perform at major university events and celebrations added to both the marching band’s outstanding reputation and to university pride,” Scheib said. “He was committed to student success and to helping students develop their talents and their leadership skills. He left the program in a very good place, and we wish him all the best in his new position,” Scheib said.
Prior to Ball State University, Nalepa was an adjunct faculty member at Northwest State Community College in Archbold, Ohio; was band director and assistant director and then director of music programs at Defiance College, Ohio; and worked for five years as the high school and middle school band director for the Upper Perkiomen School District and four years as the high school band director for the Upper Dauphin School District. She also was the middle school band director for the Punxsutawney Area School District, was an elementary general music teacher at Lincoln-Edison Charter School in York, and was assistant marching band director for Brookville Area High School.
Her arts administration experience includes being an arts laureate in Baltimore, where she was a project manager; a music education and admission coordinator for Special Music School at Kaufman Music Center in New York City; and a music education associate for the Lucy Moses School at the Kaufman Music Center. She has been a guest conductor for the Cambria County Middle School Honor Band at Richland High School in Johnstown and has been an invited performer for a variety of orchestras and ensembles. Her performances are featured on recordings with the West Chester University Wind Ensemble and the راة«س°؟â Wind Ensemble.
She has completed a number of professional training and conducting symposiums, including with musicians from Ball State University; Baylor University; University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Michigan; University of Minnesota; Northwestern University; University of North Texas; and the New England Conservatory. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the Indiana Music Educators Association, the College Band Directors National Association, and the National Association for Music Education.
Around 185 students are part of the راة«س°؟â marching band, including color guard, majorettes, and the dance team. The marching band is open all راة«س°؟â students, and there are many non-music majors as well as music majors in the band.
“The Legend” celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary in 2021 and held a one-hundredth anniversary celebration in fall 2022, which included close to 900 band alumni returning to campus.
Earliest photo of the marching band, circa 1922; courtesy راة«س°؟â Archives.
The راة«س°؟â Marching Band was formed in 1921 under conductor D.O. Slyker and had 60 members. It gave its first (non-marching) performance in May 1922. Its second director was E.F. Sullivan, who served as the director of band and instructor in band music from 1923 to 1935, when Lawrence Stitt took over the band director position. He was in that role from 1935 to 1938. Under his leadership, band uniforms were purchased for the first time (in 1936) and in 1937, the band became an all-male unit.
Under the leadership of Irving Cheyette (director from 1937 to 1947), the band resumed admitting female members; there was no band in 1943 and 1944 because of World War II, but it was reorganized in 1945.
Although they had appeared as early as 1940, the first squad of majorettes was officially organized in 1947. When C. David McNaughton took over the band in 1948, he eliminated the majorettes and instructed the band in more marching drills.
In 1960, Daniel DiCicco, one of McNaughton’s former students, became marching band director. During DiCicco's direction, the marching unit was asked to appear at halftime shows during Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers football games.
In the early 1970s, directorship changed hands from Richard Knab to Frank Dillard and finally to Charles Casavant in 1976. Casavant, the son of Albert Casavant, an internationally known field technician in marching bands, brought the organization to one of its highest levels of spirit and pride. The marching band became nicknamed “The Legend” and “The Beast of the East” during Casavant’s tenure.
Under Casavant’s leadership, the راة«س°؟â band reactivated the philosophy of combining entertaining performances with educational experiences. “Teaching music and drill to 200 people is not a one-man job, and student leadership plays an important part in the marching band,” Casavant said.
In 1987, the ensemble was selected as the official band at the US Constitution bicentennial celebration. The attention راة«س°؟â received there led to an invitation from Jacques Chirac, the then mayor of Paris, to perform at the America’s Day celebration of the French Bicentennial in the summer of 1989. In September 1989, The Legend toured Washington, DC with performances on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the Soldiers and Airmen’s Home. In 1996, راة«س°؟â made its debut performance at the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, performing not only in the parade but also putting on a show in front of the Statue of Liberty.
Casavant completed 25 years as director in 2000. David Martynuik joined the band in 2001 as its new director and continued in that role until fall 2021, when Nevin Saylor, a 1980 راة«س°؟â graduate with more than 34 years of experience as a music teacher and band director, was selected as the interim راة«س°؟â marching band director, serving in that role until Cheever was selected as director in 2022.