HMB Director Dr. Eric Bush

Greetings Hawkeyes!

We are just a few weeks into the spring 2023 semester, and it’s hard to believe we’ve already wrapped the Hawkeye Marching Band’s 142nd season! Band 142 proved to be a phenomenal group of student musicians, who continue to set the standard for excellence at the University of Iowa. This season was filled will some very high profile performance opportunities, and I am incredibly proud of the way our students met those opportunities with enthusiasm, spirit, and determination throughout the fall semester.

If you’ve been following along with the Hawkeye Marching Band on social media, then you know just how busy our 2022 season was! Here are a few highlights:

  • Our September 17 halftime and pregame performances for Iowa’s seven hour-long game against the University of Nevada won’t be forgotten anytime soon! Check out this reel put together by our media team!
  • We performed in two different outreach performances this fall, at the Bands of America Regional Championship in Waukee, Iowa, and at the 25th annual Metro Marching Band Classic in Cedar Rapids.
  • On October 1, we celebrated the 120th anniversary of the birth of Meredith Willson, who gave us the words “until the game is won.” For anyone who’s ever wondered what 76 trombones actually sound like, you’ll want to check it out!
  • Our historic collaboration with the Ohio State University Marching Band for the October 22 game in Columbus was the most integrated and complex collaboration ever between two Big Ten bands, and one of only a handful of collaborations in the conference’s history. Our combined halftime show paid tribute to the music and career of Elton John, and it garnered national media attention — and even a shoutout from Sir Elton John himself on social media!
  • Homecoming 2022 put 250 Fossils back on Duke Slater Field in Kinnick Stadium— with an extensive waitlist ready to take their places should plans change! We love welcoming our alumni back to campus, and it’s wonderful that so many of you stay connected and engaged with us!
  • We closed out our season with a fun trip to Nashville for the Music City Bowl. Check out some of the social media coverage below.

I want to take a moment to extend my deepest gratitude to this community of Hawkeye Marching Band alumni, donors, friends, family, and students. Thanks to the level of your connection and engagement with our work, the band is experiencing an unprecedented level of visibility, not just on campus or in Iowa City, but across the country. The Hawkeye Marching Band has the highest social media engagement rates of any marching band in the Big Ten—and that’s because you support us, and do whatever you can to make sure the rest of the world knows about our students and their work. That level of engagement translates to higher levels of funding from the college and university, donor activity, recruitment of outstanding musicians and marchers, and retention of our wonderful students.

Finally, I am thrilled to share that thanks to the growth we’ve experienced over the last five years, we have finally gotten approval to hire an Assistant Director of Athletic Bands, and I look forward to introducing them to you once the search and hire have been completed.

As always, thank you for your continued support and the enthusiasm you share for everything we do in the Hawkeye Marching Band! Our success is tied directly to the dedication and generosity of our HMB family!


On Iowa, and Go Hawks!

Dr. Eric W. Bush
Director of the Hawkeye Marching Band