New Ex-Comm, Basketball games, Briggs Concert, Emerald Bowl events

Hello everyone!

We have a few announcements for you - and I hope everyone is having a Happy Holidays so far.

* New Cal Band Ex-Comm - featuring 3 clarinet players! :)
* Bob Briggs Memorial Concert - we would love a bunch more players
* North Tunnel Echo - did you get yours?
* Alumni needed for basketball games - especially 12/27 at 1pm (Emerald Bowl game day)
* Emerald Bowl info & events - Saturday, 12/27, 5pm gametime

*** NEW CAL BAND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ***

Congratulations to our new Ex-Comm!

Senior Manager--Cindy Wu, piccolo '06
Drum Major--David Nagle, trombone '06S
tudent Director--Andrew Person, clarinet '06
Public Relations Director--Malia McPherson, clarinet '06
Executive Secretary--Beth Rotolo, clarinet '06

Congratulations to the Award Winners!

Sprague Award--Jeff Wayland, tenor drums '08 (most spirited newman)
Bear Award--Trent Severson, clarinet '08 (best musical newman)
"Tut" Gerdes Award--Griffin Hosseinzadeh, trombone '08 (lower brass)
Briggs Award (upper brass)--Grace Butler, trumpet '08
Briggs Family (upper woodwind)--Amy Fu, piccolo '08
Briggs Family (lower woodwind)--Masis Parunyan, tenor '08
Briggs Family (percussion)--Blaire Segal, cymbals '08
Baton Award--Malia McPherson, clarinet '06; Albert Liu, baritone '05 (highest academics)
Herbert Towler--Jon Nagata, baritone '07 (second or third year leader)
Bill Ellsworth--Ryan Wilcox, alto '05 (most spirited senior, given by CBAA)
Bell Award--Raul Lopez, bass drum '05 (most outstanding senior)
Pacesetter Award--Hector Salcedo, tenor '05 (best senior marcher)

*** BOB BRIGGS MEMORIAL CONCERT ***

In my initial thanks to everyone who helped for Bob Briggs' Memorial Celebration in October, I neglected to thank Mark West for his donation of wine from the Rominger West Winery. Thank you Mark!!!

From Bill Doherty...

I am excited to announce that Solano Winds has commissioned a piece to première at the Robert O. Briggs Memorial Festival! While looking for a composer who knows what kind of music Bob would like, it was instantly obvious that the right person for the job is Randy Biagi. Our community band is contracting with Randy to write a selection to add to the concert band repertoire, and Randy has chosen to create a Fantasia based on Hail to California! It's enough to give Bob eternal chills!! You can be an important part of premièring this new music. Sign up now to play in the Festival band by visiting www.solanowinds.org and following the link to the Robert O. Briggs Memorial Festival.

Player registration closes on January 15, but the sooner folks sign up, the better Randy can plan what the piece will look like. We're happy that in our early stages, we already have a fairly well balanced 32 piece group, but we'd like a lot more! In particular, Randy wants to incorporate all double reeds and a string bass into this score, but all concert band instruments are still needed. The Festival takes place at the Fairfield Center for Creative Arts in Fairfield on Sunday, February 15, 2009. We will rehearse at 1:00 PM and perform at 7:30 PM. Proceeds will benefit the Robert O. Briggs Scholarship Endowment Fund. If you have any questions about the Festival, please do not hesitate to contact me at bdoherty80@earthlink.net. In the meantime, I hope you'll be able to join us for this special musical tribute to Bob!

Thanks, Bill Doherty
Trumpet '76
Music Director, Solano Winds

*** NORTH TUNNEL ECHO ***

Everyone should have received a copy of their North Tunnel Echo in the mail. We apologize for the delay of this special issue, but for obvious reasons, we wanted to make sure we got it right.

I would like to give a huge thanks to our NTE staff for an excellent job well done - Editor Jason Clark, Tristan Harward, Tara Castro, PR-Comm, and many many others that spent countless hours helping. All of you are class acts!!

*** CAL BAND ALUMNI NEEDED AT BASKETBALL GAMES ***

The Cal Band has requested our help with basketball Straw Hat Bands during their Winter Break. Uniform would be Straw Hat if you have it, Alumni Band if not. These are always a fun way to play and be with current band members, and to see some great Cal basketball. Following is a list of the games they need help with, along with the call times for each. Keep your eyes open for additional announcements and information, and watch the CBAA web site. Please RSVP to Chris Bailey for any game you would like to attend & play: chris@batesandbailey.com.

As you are probably aware, the Emerald Bowl is on Saturday, 12/27 at 5pm. The men's basketball game vs. Dartmouth has been moved to 1pm so fans can attend both if they like. The Cal Band is hoping this game can be alumni led and staffed, as they will not be able to go at all due to marching rehearsals and other performances that day. WE ARE LOOKING FOR A DIRECTOR FOR THIS GAME. Please email Chris Bailey (chris@batesandbailey.com) if you are interested.

Here's the schedule with gametimes, call times are 45 minutes before in BRH:

12/20 Men's v. Nevada 3:30
12/22 Men's v. Colgate 8:00
12/22 Women's v. Baylor 5:00
12/27 Men's v. Dartmouth 1:00 **We need an alumni director!**
12/28 Men's v. TBA, 2:30pm or 5:00pm
12/29 Women's v. St. Mary's 7:00
1/2 Men's v. Arizona 5:30
1/4 Men's v. ASU 5:00
1/8 Women's v. WSU 7:00
1/11 Women's v. UW 12:30
1/18 Women's v. Stanfurd 3:00

*** EMERALD BOWL INFORMATION ***

Your California Golden Bears will take on the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, Dec. 27th at 5pm at AT&T Park in San Francisco. CAA wants to invite you to a variety of activites on Friday Dec. 26th and Saturday, Dec. 27th, including the official Cal Tailgate. Check it out! www.alumni.berkeley.edu/bowl

Official Cal Tailgate!
2:30 - 4:30pmPier 48 at AT&T Park
(parking available in Parking Lot A)

Don't miss the event of the weekend—the official Cal tailgate! Enjoy the Cal Marching Band, Dance Team, Oski, a pep-talk from Athletic Director Sandy Barbour, and more. Receive a discount if you register online before midnight, Wednesday Dec. 24th. A limited number of walk-ups will be available at the tailgate entrance at a higher price. You can register for either beverages only or beverages with food. Special pricing is available for young alumni, students, families, and youths.

There are 4 events on Friday to attend as well as a post-game concert at the Warfield on Saturday night - all in San Francisco. Even if you aren't going to the game, check out the events.

Go Bears! Cal Band Great!
Erin Proudfoot '92
CBAA Communications Chair

Bob Briggs Memorial Celebration

Dear Cal Friends,

Our dear Cal Band director emeritus Bob Briggs passed away on Sept. 17th at the age of 81. We will celebrate his extraordinary life this coming Saturday, October 18, at 2:00pm in Pauley Ballroom, inside of the MLK Student Union, on the Cal campus. We will gather at 2:00 with the program starting at 2:30 with the Cal Band marching in to "Fight." A traditional jazz band made up of Cal Band alumni will play from 1:30-2:30pm to welcome you.

Everyone, including children of all ages, is warmly invited to attend this celebration. To ensure we will have enough food and drink, please RSVP through the Socializr link below. (Socializr is similar to E-vite.) There is a map and parking information on the Socializr link:

More info and RSVP: www.socializr.com/event/evpfoot/briggs

This will be an upbeat celebration of Bob's life, so wear your best blue and gold, and be ready to sing! Casual dress is acceptable.

Donations: If you can provide any goods including food, drink, or decorations (such as flowers and balloons), please email bandalumni@calband.berkeley.edu. Our wish is for this event to be fully supported by Bob's friends and family. Thank you to Lawrence Lohr, who will be donating some of the wine for the day from J. Lohr Vineyards.

For those of you who would like to watch the Cal vs. Arizona football game at 7PM that evening, downstairs Kip's has a good sized room in back, with flat screen TVs! Walk through the Chinese restaurant, and you'll see Kip's is still there. Any and all are welcome to congregate there informally for the game - but consider arriving early to secure a seat.

More and more photos are being uploaded every day. Take a look and upload yours:

http://www.northtunnelecho.org/bobphotos/

Questions? E-mail bandalumni@calband.berkeley.edu and send us a message or visit the CBAA page at www.calband.berkeley.edu/cbaa.

Go Bears and Go Bob!

Bob's memorial service in Fairfield this Sunday, Oct. 5th

Everyone is welcome at Bob's service on Sunday, October 5 (details below). This will be a formal religious service, whereas the campus gathering will be a much more festive celebration of Bob’s life. You may choose to attend either or both depending on your preference. The church holds approximately 400 people.

The campus celebration for Bob will take place on Saturday, October 18 at 2pm, most likely in Pauley Ballroom on the UC Berkeley campus. If you are interested in this, make sure you are on the cbaa-bob email list (instructions on calband.berkeley.edu/cbaa).

Fairfield Memorial information:
Sunday, Oct 5th, 2pm
Community United Methodist Church
1875 Fairfield Avenue
Fairfield, CA 94533