IMSA Titan Pep Band Plays Peoria!

For Immediate Release, March 1999
For comment, contact Brenda Buschbacher at (630) 907-5033

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy Titan Pep Band will be the tournament pep band for the first two sessions of the IHSA class A boys basketball quarterfinals in Peoria, Friday, March 12, 1999. The band won the right to perform at the tournament as a result of their placing third in state out of a field of over 40 bands in the IHSA State Pep Band competition held last January.

This will be the band’s third trip to perform at various IHSA State Tournament events. In 1994, the band placed second in the state in the same competition, and performed for the Boys class AA quarterfinal basketball tournament at Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign. In 1996, the band placed sixth and performed for the Girls State Volleyball Finals at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University in Bloomington.

An perennial favorite at IMSA, the band performs at both Boys and Girls home varsity basketball games. Under the baton of Director of Bands, Mark Running, the band performs music, cheers, rousers and fanfares from the big band era to the present. The pep band operates under the umbrella of a vigorous music department that is comprised of two bands, a full symphony orchestra, a madrigal choir and concert choir, contemporary vocal ensemble and jazz band. Fully two-thirds of the Academy’s 650 student population actively participates in one or more aspect of the music program.

The session one pre-game show begins at 11:45, with tip-off of game one at 12:15. Game two tip-off will follow at approximately 1:45 p.m. Session two pre-game begins at 6:15 p.m. with tip-off of game three at 6:45 p.m. Game four (the Plano game) will tip-off at 8:15 p.m. The band will be performing for pre-game, between quarters, at time-outs, half-time and post game for all four games! Both sessions will be held at Carver Arena at the Civic Center in Peoria. Transportation and meals for the band are being provided by the IHSA, as part of the award for placing third in the state and performing at this event.

The tournament will be broadcast in its entirety by the Fox Sports Network (cable television), please check your local TV listings for exact channel and times.

IMSA’s musical groups perform regularly both on campus and at area venues. Recently, the Chamber Symphony and Choir performed at the world famous Drake Hotel for holidays, and the Band and Choir toured Toronto, Ontario, Canada last summer. For more information concerning the pep band, or other Music Department activities and performances, call Mark Running at (630)907-5048, or email running@imsa.edu. Inquiries for private performances are also welcome.

Located in Aurora, Illinois, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) is an internationally-recognized pioneering educational institution created by the State to develop talent and stimulate excellence in teaching and learning in mathematics, science and technology. IMSA's advanced residential college preparatory program enrolls 650 academically talented Illinois students in grades 10-12. More than 14,000 teachers and 20,000 students in Illinois and beyond have benefited from IMSA's professional development and enrichment programs. IMSA serves the people of Illinois through innovative instructional programs, public and private partnerships, policy leadership and action research.