Tollis marches alongside some of his best friends through the tunnel of the stadium onto the football field, greeted by the roar of the crowd.

The Spartan Marching Band has arrived.

Established more than a century ago in 1870, the Spartan Marching Band has been performing at MSU football games for years. This season marks John Madden’s 23rd year as director of the band.
From his time and experience with the band, he knows the passion found amongst his students.

“The students who wear the Spartan Marching Band uniform love being able to represent the school and represent decades and decades of tradition,” he said.

But behind the decorated uniforms, the powerful instruments and military steps, the heart of Spartan Marching Band encompasses much more.

Spartan legacy
Before joining the Spartan Marching Band, education freshman Colin McCune had his doubts.

“I had decided my senior year of high school I was going to be done,” he said.

The times of band practices and performances often conflicted with sports and other activities, and McCune didn’t know if marching band at MSU was the right path for him.

But McCune’s high school band teacher, Nathaniel Lampman, who had been in the Spartan Marching Band himself decades ago, saw potential in McCune and convinced him to continue his marching band goals.

“He’s a great musician, and I knew he would have a lot to offer the band,” he said.

Through Lampman’s encouragement, McCune joined the Spartan Marching Band and despite his first year status, landed a spot in the sixth chair of the trombone section out of 36 chairs.

During his time at MSU in the marching band, Lampman met his wife and friends he still keeps in contact with today.

“It’s a great way to connect to the university,” he said. “Michigan State is a huge school, and it’s good to have a small group a family within the school.”

Preseason preparation
Before began his drills with the Spartan Marching Band, McCune had to learn the fundamentals. During the preseason conditioning, new band members are put through a series of instruction to get them prepared for the upcoming season.

“We did really basic stuff like all the different kinds of steps,” he said.

Some of the fundamentals Madden ensures his students know include the proper way to high step, the eight-count horn swing, choreography for traditional songs and the elements of the pregame show.

“Their biggest task is learning all of those things that are traditional to the Spartan Marching Band,” he said. “(They are) conforming to a style that’s very specific.”

At the end of the training session, new band members put their knowledge to the test in the freshmen dress rehearsal, where they perform all songs by memory by themselves.

To get his students ready, Madden sent the musicians running. Students are instructed to run three times a week during the summer before football season even begins.

“The more physically fit the band is, the more it’s going to generate energy during the performance,” Madden said.

Aside from performing drills and formations on the field, Tollis said marching in the band is especially physically demanding because of the restriction on breathing.

“You can only breathe every eight counts,” he said. “It’s a cardio challenge — you get tired a lot faster. ”

Extensive group stretching and calisthenic exercises during preseason training also aid in preparing the band for the long season ahead.

On the field
For McCune, when he put on his band uniform for a football game for the first time last Friday night, he finally felt like a part of the band.

“When you get to be a part of something that’s so much bigger than yourself, it’s an honor,” he said.

After all 300 band members put on their uniforms and unpack their instruments, the group is ready to go.

Tollis said the march from Walter Adams Memorial Field to the Spartan Stadium before the game is considered the band’s march to battle.

Drum major and music education senior Simon Holoweiko leads the march called “The Series” for its series of seven drum cadences that repeat until the band reaches the stadium.

During the drill, band members play as loud and enthusiastically as they can on their way to the stadium.

Each section of band performs traditional choreography, which was created decades ago by former band members, along the way.

“It’s our most unique and special tradition,” he said. “It’s kind of what the band holds closest to the heart.”

As a trombone player, Tollis is one of the first musicians on the field. He said the entrance of the band at MSU is different from his prior experiences in marching band.

“People actually pay attention to you, which doesn’t happen in high school,” he said.

As a drum major, Holoweiko enters the field and performs his routine and a backbend characteristic to Big Ten schools.

Drum majors went from keeping their feet together and bending backwards, to a full-out backbend, their heads often touching the ground behind them.

“It’s evolved into a showmanship thing,” he said.

As soon as the football is over and the band finishes performing, the Spartan Marching Band looks forward to learning two or three new songs for the next home game.

Making it through
As director, Madden stresses to band members the importance of being a family.

When Kristin Olear-Collins was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last fall, the students of the Spartan Marching Band stepped up.

Olear-Collins was first diagnosed with cancer on Nov. 2, 2010, when her lung collapsed. When doctors told her she might never march again, she was crushed.

“I didn’t want to lose the things that I love because of the disease,” she said.

Olear-Collins’ fight against cancer didn’t only take a toll on her. Her Spartan companions struggled alongside her.

“When something happens to someone in the family, it’s devastating,” Madden said.
The band decided to show their support for Olear-Collins during her struggle by creating green wristbands with the words “Marching for a Cure.”

“At the bowl game, everyone wore the wrist bands under our uniform,” Holoweiko said.

After months of recovery, Olear-Collins is back on the field and said she couldn’t do it without the support of her band.

“Attitude is having a battle when you’re going up against cancer,” she said.

“I couldn’t stay half as positive as I am if I didn’t have the marching band behind me.”

Olear-Collins is thankful for her Spartan Marching Band family and the ability to return for her final year in the band.

Many members in the group were moved by her strength in her recovery.

“Kristin is an unbelievable person,” Holoweiko said.

Learning about discipline, how to work with other people and how to succeed as a team were just a few of the life lessons Lampman said he gained from his time with the Spartan Marching Band.

“The same things you learn on a Big Ten team you can learn in a Big Ten band,” he said.