Article By: Staff
Four Golden Eagle Band members will appear virtually in the halftime show of the 2021 College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 11.
University of North Georgia (UNG) students Rachel Boeh from Cumming, Georgia; Colin Hathaway from Snellville, Georgia; Kasey Higginbotham from Flowery Branch, Georgia; and Nathan "Nate" Mullins from Madison, Georgia; will participate in the pre-recorded 2-minute video shown in the stadium and online. Students will be seen individually or together in small groups via video from their campuses while following health and safety guidelines.
"I thought it was great that our students were selected," said Dr. Bart Walters, director of the Golden Eagle Band and adjunct faculty member in the Department of Music at UNG. "UNG's band is a civilian and cadet group that does not have a football team to perform for, so our performances are different compared to others. To get our university and our band students this exposure is important."
The four UNG students will join about 1,500 performers from 200 bands in 45 states and Puerto Rico in the Intercollegiate Marching Band performance, which was organized through a collaboration among the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), GPG Music and Our Virtual Ensemble. Together, they designed a virtual half-time show since many marching bands have been sidelined because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This is really a great effort by CBDNA," Walters said. "Hardly any marching bands are performing on the field at halftime. They are relegated to the stands and those numbers are cut down for social distancing."
The choreographed halftime show will feature instrumental musicians as well as color guards, baton twirlers, majorettes, and dancers performing Beyonce's "End of Time." The song's arrangement has parts for woodwinds, brass, percussion and front-line instruments.
For more information about the CBDNA Intercollegiate Marching Band, visit cbdna-imb.com.
