Band & Orchestra

The Sacred Heart University Band is comprised of Marching Band, Pep Band and Concert Band. The Marching Band performs at home football games, high school competitions and parades. Pep Band excites the crowd at basketball and hockey games, and the Concert Band performs at several concerts throughout the year.

The Sacred Heart University Orchestra is open to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff.

Orchestra is an organization that provides an opportunity for musicians of all levels to gather together and explore orchestral repertoire. Made up of non-music majors, the orchestra performs standard works by composers such as Mozart, Vivaldi, and Borodin, as well as lighter pieces including music from Broadway, and Holiday Pops. All orchestral strings students are required to take private lessons for their first two years. Private teachers are available to teach for-credit lessons on violin, viola, cello, bass and harp.

Chamber Ensembles are an integral part of the Band & Orchestra program. These ensembles are the laboratories where students can learn ensemble performance skills, fine-tune their own artistry, and collaborate with other students while performing music at a high level. These ensembles typically play more advanced music and are often hired for gigs on and off campus.

An audition is required for admittance into the program.

In the fall semester, twirlers are part of the Marching Band, and perform field shows for home football games, at local exhibitions, and in parades. In the spring semester, twirlers compete in USTA (United States Twirling Association) or NBTA (National Baton Twirling Association) competitions. Twirlers are required to compete in at least one state and one regional competition. In place of competing at state or regional competitions, twirlers may have the opportunity to perform as part of the Winter Guard for their competitive season. All twirlers are required to participate in a Dance & Movement class each fall semester.

Percussion Ensemble performs at conventions, high schools, colleges and at the Percussive Arts Society CT Day of Percussion. In this ensemble, percussionists are able to apply their skills and put them into practice. The Percussion Ensemble uses all areas of percussion including: mallet percussion, battery percussion, accessory percussion, latin percussion, etc. Members of Percussion Ensemble are also required to be members of The Percussive Arts Society, which is the preeminent percussion organization in the world.

An audition is required prior to the fall semester to be a member of the guard program.

During the fall semester, Guard performs alongside the Marching Band at football games, high school competitions, and parades. In the spring, the Winter Guard competes at local and national levels in the MAC (Musical Arts Conference), MAIN (Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network), and WGI (Winter Guard International) circuits. Both flag and weapon skills are utilized, though weapon experience is not required.

SHU is one of the only guard programs in the country to be supported academically. All guard members are required to take a Dance and Movement class in the fall semester. This class is taught by professional dancers and choreographers and is intended to provide a baseline knowledge of terminology, techniques, and skill-level. No prior dance experience required.

Jazz Ensemble gives students the opportunity to perform music from a variety of jazz styles, ranging from small combos to big band era repertoire. Students are able to learn and expand their skills and knowledge of jazz and improvisation. Jazz Ensemble may be applied towards the Music minor.