As a member of the OWU Marching Bishops, you are an important part of our team effort to inspire, serve, and entertain. Student input is highly encouraged, and has a real impact on rehearsal goals, repertoire selection, and the ensemble’s relationship to the broader campus community. The students are the ones who craft a band's identity.
To help facilitate student impact on the ensemble, action groups within the band carry out certain tasks and projects throughout the season. These groups have influence in music organization, designing choreography, arranging stand tunes, managing equipment and uniforms, and planning community outreach events. Students work together on projects centered around a shared interest, allowing members who may not have an instrument or academic program in common to develop meaningful bonds. All members of the Marching Bishops get to be involved in an action group of their choice, giving every single member a voice in how the community functions.
Members with a year or more of experience in the Marching Bishops have additional opportunities to develop their leadership skills in various capacities. Each action group has a leader whose vision shapes the course of their group’s work for the season. On-field leadership roles, such as field captain and drum major, infuse growing as a performer with serving the ensemble as a role model and peer mentor. The Student Assistant Director is a paid internship position funded through the Student Assistantship Program (StAP), which provides hands-on experiences in a professional setting for students who desire to complement their liberal arts education with practical experiences. For the fall of 2021, the student in this position will work 6 hours per week to help plan the season, recruit new members, and oversee action group leaders to support their success. With so many ways to be involved, how will you leave your mark?
In the Marching Bishops, we know that a great marching band doesn’t only involve music majors; it is a cross-section of an entire campus. Our membership includes music lovers from coast to coast majoring in things like zoology, psychology, physics, politics and government, education, history, English, international studies, microbiology, and fine arts, to name just a few. You can also find Marching Bishops engaged in a wide variety of other activities on campus, whether it’s playing in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, working on campus, competing in varsity sports, singing with our a capella choirs, taking part in French and Spanish clubs, engaging in the Global Scholars program, participating in Greek Life organizations, or even honing their battle skills in Medieval Combat Club. Students from all backgrounds are welcome. No matter what type of band you come from or whether you have marching experience, you'll be introduced to our movement style at preseason training camp along with fellow band members in an encouraging, growth-driven environment.
Since the beginning, members of the Marching Bishops have expressed passion for community service and engagement. The band’s founding season included creating a mural for the nearby Boardman Arts Park, a project coordinated by an action group that involved the full ensemble. As a result of that student influence, partnering with an organization in the greater Columbus area has become a key feature of our fall season. In 2019, the band traveled to the Ohio Reformatory for Women to share a program of empowering music by powerful women with the residents, and the 2020 OWU Create-A-Thon brought students together in their creative endeavors to raise over $1,500 for the King Arts Complex in Columbus. The Marching Bishops is a band for the greater community, not just OWU.
“OWU’s band taught me how to adapt to quickly changing conditions and how to work as part of a team. I feel significantly more confident in my leadership abilities. We welcome all majors from music education to zoology, so it’s really interesting to see people from all different walks of life being able to perform together!”
“When I joined the band in its founding year, I did not know what to expect. Mary Kate was so welcoming and it was obvious that she truly cares about every student in the band. I also spend a lot of time with Kortney, the auxiliary instructor. She is a wonderful person and instructor, and she continues to support us as well as challenge us to do our best work and be our best selves.”
“Being part of a band that is mostly student-led was such a refreshing thing for me. I have always felt as though my voice was heard in things such as music we play, shirts we wear, and people we play for. This band is a wonderful opportunity to make your mark somewhere on campus!”
“Being in the band has given me an opportunity to meet new people and have some fun in college.”
“Band was my first step into life at OWU; it was an opportunity to be myself. Being a part of such a positive community has helped me make friends from an array of backgrounds and majors. I have been in band for years, but I have never been in a band that truly felt like family.”