Best Band in the Land: A History of the Marching Illini
In the 1920s, John Philip Sousa called the University of Illinois marching band the "World's Greatest College Band." Superlatives like this have come to be expected during the band's long and colorful history. Among its many accomplishments, the Marching Illini was the first college band to perform a school song ... the first to stage a halftime show ... the first to participate in Homecoming, Mom's Day and Dad's Day ... the first to form school letters on the field ... and even the first to have its own Web site on the World Wide Web! Join Professor Emeritus Gary Smith, the man who led the Marching Illini for more than two decades, as he shares the band's story and shows video clips of the group in action.

Special Equipment Needed for Presentation: Presentation is most effective when done with a wide-screen video projector.

About the Speaker
Gary Smith came to the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts as associate director of bands in 1976. For the next 22 years until his retirement in the spring of 1998, he conducted the Marching Illini and is responsible for developing the band's distinctive style and many of its traditions. Smith is a member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association and is also a member of Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha and Kappa Kappa Psi music honorary fraternities and participates in the College Band Director's National Association, National Band Association and the Illinois Music Educators Association. Presently, Gary serves as a consultant for the Ministry of Education in Singapore and the Sunshine Parade International in Cannes, France, and Genoa, Italy. He also serves as the halftime and pre-game coordinator for the Peach Bowl. In the summer, Smith owns and operates the Smith Walbridge Clinics for drum majors, flags, rifles, marching percussion and marching section leaders. He has served as a clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor throughout the United States, and several of his articles have been published in "The Instrumentalist" and the "Band Director's Guide."