Rebecca Panman ’04

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“Playing in the UCLA Alumni Band has been a great experience,” says Rebecca Panman ’04, who joined the group right after graduating. “It makes me feel connected to the university and gives me the opportunity to play my saxophone and show my spirit along with my fellow alumni.”

If you’ve been to a football tailgate party at the Rose Bowl, you’ve seen the spirit that excites Panman. The UCLA Alumni Band rocks and rolls before and during football games and appears three or four times each year at Pauley Pavilion. It is the official band of UCLA Women’s Gymnastics -- the reigning NCAA champion team -- and plays at numerous other UCLA sporting events, including a recent gig at Dodger Stadium during the Dodgertown Classic between UCLA and USC.

The UCLA Alumni Band attracts a diverse group of members, from recent graduates like Panman to alumni from the 1950s. The lively group of more than 125 alumni musicians has provided passionate support for UCLA athletics since 1976, playing “Sons of Westwood,” “Mighty Bruins” and the other fight songs from the Bruin repertoire.

Best known for its appearances at every home football game. The band opens three hours before kickoff with a rousing rendition of “Sons of Westwood” and takes UCLA fans on a musical journey spanning every decade from the 1940s to the new millennium.

A special part of the band’s ritual is playing for the Bruin football team as the players make their way from the team bus through the tailgate parties to the locker room, pumping up the team for battle.

The band also joins the UCLA Spirit Squad as the cheerleaders, dance team, and Joe and Josephine Bruin perform routines to songs such as “Tuxedo Junction.” As much a UCLA tradition as the 8-Clap, the audience enjoys dancing with the Spirit Squad to this big band crowd pleaser, accompanied by the tubas.

Any former UCLA student who can play a wind or percussion instrument is welcome to join in the fun of the UCLA Alumni Band, no matter how long it has been since they blew a horn or beat a drum. There are no auditions, and the only requirement is a love of everything Bruin.

The $45 annual dues provides band members and a guest free admission to most band events, including prime seats at football games and gymnastics meets.

Playing with the UCLA Alumni Band is rewarding, fulfilling and just fun, say organizers, and new members are welcomed. If you enjoy playing your band instrument and you bleed blue and gold, come out and play with the UCLA Alumni Band.

The band’s repertoire of music includes big band standards like “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “Perdido; rock-and-roll classics like “Rock Around the Clock” and “Johnnie B. Goode”; songs from the 1960s such as Jimi Hendrix’s iconic “Fire,” and the Beatles’ “Birthday”; 1970s disco classics including “YMCA,” “Fantasy” and “Blitzkreig Bop”; and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “Come Out and Play” from the 1980s.

Check out UCLA Alumni Band or contact Carmen Rexach for additional information.