'I'm so excited. All eyes are on us'
The UConn Marching Band performs at Rentschler Field. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
The home of the New England Patriots will get a taste of Husky spirit later this month, when the UConn Marching Band makes the trip to Foxborough for a halftime performance.
The Patriots host the Houston Texans for the Oct. 13 game at Gillette Stadium, and marching band members say they could not be more excited to represent UConn with a mix of classic and current songs.
"Being able to go out on the field, kind of be in the action, and then perform out there is super exciting," says Allan Lian '25 (BUS), head drum major for the marching band.
Lian, analytics and information management major, explained his role as the "musical and motivational leader" of the group. Some of his responsibilities include conducting, setting up for shows, and warming up the band. Essentially, he operates as the team captain.
During rehearsals and performances, Lian stands atop a ladder and helps conduct the band, making sure all the members are playing in time.
He is no stranger to playing in an NFL stadium, though. Lian performed at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Jets and Giants, with the UConn Marching Band in an exhibition for a national high school marching band competition in 2021.
For some members of the band, though, the Patriots game will be a brand-new experience.
Cecile Hazen '28 (ENG), a clarinet player and new member representative for the marching band, has never played a stadium bigger than Rentschler Field.
She says she usually gets nervous before performances and will be more anxious than normal for the Patriots game, but will not let that stop her.
"I get nervous before performances all the time. But I also know that a lot of people around me support me, and so I feel as if that support really anchors me and helps me get the nerves down," says Hazen.
Band members are excited about the performance, and so is Justin McManus, director of athletic bands at UConn.
The band has seven minutes on and off the field to perform, says McManus. The performance will be a combination of the pregame and postgame shows the Huskies play at UConn games.
One major difference for the students to learn is the layout of the field.
"Something we think about often is our performance surface," says McManus. "A college field has different hash marks than an NFL field. So those are reference points that we have to prepare for, because they're different."
McManus says they will rehearse by using spray chalk to simulate NFL field markings on the practice field in Storrs, so the formations are to the correct spots at Gillette, and the band is ready.
The performance has been planned since July, McManus says. It is the first time the UConn Marching Band will play an NFL game since a Buffalo Bills game in 1996.
UConn has the largest collegiate marching band to play at halftime at Gillette in recent history. McManus says that UMass and Boston College have played in the last few years, and UConn is the most recent to receive an invite.
"Because of our size, because of our presence, we were kind of the next group they wanted to reach out to, to represent another aspect of New England," McManus says.
McManus says he got an email from the Patriots in July, and the scheduling process was "pretty easy."
McManus attributes this invitation to "the visibility of the program." He explains that it is more difficult to build a marching band in New England, compared to band programs in the South or Midwest where football's roots in the community generally run deeper than parts of New England.
The hard work has paid off: there are over 300 students in the marching band, with more than 100 of them being new members, says McManus. Only 15-20%of the band's members are music majors.
And, while the band members are excited, the performance will mean a lot of hard work and careful organization.
Getting equipment ready for the performance will be quite the process. The band takes seven full coach buses to fit all the musicians and staff. There are also two box trucks and a sprinter van for equipment.
Upon arrival, the band will have to go through standard security procedures; metal detectors, K9 units, the whole nine yards (no pun intended).
The payoff will be the opportunity to perform for a crowd of nearly 65,000. The band members say they're especially eager for one particular part of the performance: running out of the tunnel. "I'm excited to feel the energy in an NFL stadium," says Lian. "I'm so excited for that," Hazen said. "All eyes are on us."
McManus has more plans for the band to perform on bigger stages. He says the band was recently invited to play at the closing banquet of the Heisman Trophy Ceremony.
"We're the first band to be invited since COVID," says McManus. "They've been apparently trying to get us for a while and had us in mind."
McManus says the program has also applied for the 2026 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
