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TSU’s AOB celebrates 75 years with trip to Tournament of Roses, receives major Hollywood endorsement

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Tennessee State University world-renowned Aristocrat of Bands is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year with an invitation to the 133rd Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California, on Jan 1, 2022.

The Aristocrat of Bands enter campus as they participate in the 2021 Homecoming parade on Jefferson Street. (Photo by TSU Media Relations)

The band, the only one from a historically black college or university (HBCU) marching in the parade this year, was one of only four university bands selected nationwide last year to participate in the Tournament of Roses, but the parade was cancelled due to the pandemic.

This year’s reissued invitation comes with the endorsement of Emmy and Peabody Awards-winning actor and director Levar Burton, the 2022 grand marshal of the Rose Bowl Parade. Also known as an educator and lifelong children’s literacy advocate, Burton – with followers in the hundreds of thousands – endorsed TSU and the AOB on his Twitter page. 

Dr. Reginald McDonald, Director of Bands

“Help the Aristocrats get to Pasadena and the Tournament of Roses Parade,” @levarburton tweeted. 

Termed the “West Coast swing,” the AOB’s California visit is also packed with other exciting activities. Before the parade on New Year’s Day, the AOB will take part in Bandfest, a two-day exclusive field show for marching bands selected to participate in the parade, to showcase their musicianship and unique talents. Performances at Disney Land, the California African American Museum, as well as a half-time show for the Los Angeles Lakers in the Staple Center, are also planned.  

And band members and students are exuberant.

Levar Burton, Parade of Roses Grand Marshal, endorses the Aristocrat of Bands. (Submitted Photo)

“I am definitely excited to have this opportunity after waiting for a year,” says Tiara Thomas, student trustee on the TSU Board of Trustees, who plays the French horn in the band. She says the visit will be a major exposure for the university. 

“I am very thrilled to be a part. We have a number of things lined up just for people out in California who have not seen us or do not even know where Tennessee State is,” she says. “So, to be able to make this trip with most of my friends, I am really excited and very grateful.” 

Travion Crutcher, head drum major of the AOB, who will be going to California for the first time, says he is looking forward to performing in the Rose Bowl, but also “experiencing Hollywood from up close.”

Tiara Thomas says the West Coast visit will be a major exposure for TSU. (Submitted photo)

“I am looking forward to experiencing in person what I see on TV shows and movies,” says Crutcher, a senior electrical engineering major from Huntsville, Alabama. “I am looking forward to embracing the culture in that part of the US.” 

Dr. Reginald McDonald, TSU’s director of bands, lamented the last-minute cancellation of the California visit last year, but is excited about the return, which he says aligns well with the 75th year of the existence of the AOB. 

“Like everybody else, I was extremely disappointed with us not being able to do the parade last year because of the pandemic, but at the same time I understood,” says McDonald, who announced “75 Years of Excellence” as the theme for the AOB’s anniversary.  

“In a perfect sense, us getting the opportunity to do it (the parade) this year actually aligns well with this very significant year of the AOB. This is the 75th year of the existence of the Tennessee State University AOB. The capstone performance of the anniversary will be the Tournament of Roses on January 1,” McDonald says, calling the appearance at the Rose Bowl a major recruitment tool.
 

AOB Lead Drum Major Travion Crutcher is looking forward to the Hollywood experience. (Submitted Photo)

About the invitation to perform for the Lakers, McDonald says while it is a challenge, it will be fun. “Whether it is the NFL, NBA or NHL, we have done it before.” 

Dr. Robert B. Miller, president and chairman of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, who visited TSU in 2020 to officially invite the AOB, returned to TSU recently to reaffirm the university’s invitation for the 2022 parade. 

“Only the best of the best are invited and the Aristocrat of Bands is one of them,” Miller said in 2020 when he first presented the band with the official tournament flag and invitation, at a ceremony in the Gentry Center Complex.

The band’s last practice, before leaving for their break and subsequently California, is Friday, Dec. 17.

For more information on the TSU Aristocrat of Bands, visit https://www.tnstate.edu/aristocratofbands/ 

Featured Photo Courtesy of DeShun Smith
TSU President Glenda Glover, along with university and band officials, receive the official Tournament of Roses flag during the halftime show of the 2021 Homecoming game at Nissan Stadium. From left, are Band Member Jordan Hampton; TSU Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff, Dr. Curtis Johnson; President Glover; President and Chairman of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, Dr. Robert B. Miller; Director of Bands Dr. Reginald McDonald; and Band Member Rameek Nelson.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a  premier, historically black university and land-grant institution offering 39 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and eight doctoral degrees.  TSU is a comprehensive research intensive institution with a R-2 Carnegie designation, and has a graduate school on its downtown Avon Williams Campus, along with the Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tennessee.  With a commitment to excellence, Tennessee State University provides students  with a quality education in a nurturing and innovative environment that prepares them as alumni to be global leaders in every facet of society. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

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TSU Is all Roses; World-Renowned Aristocrat of Bands to Participate In 2021 Tournament of Roses

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University Aristocrat of Bands is going to the Tournament of Roses. The band recently received an official invitation to participate in the 2021 Rose Bowl Parade on Jan. 1 in Pasadena, California.

The crowd applauds after the announcement that the TSU Aristocrat of Bands will participate in the 2021 Tournament of Roses in Pasedina, California. (Photo by TSU Media Relations)

The AOB will be one of only four university bands selected nationwide to participate in the parade, with a domestic television audience of more than 38 million.

“Only the best of the best are invited  and the Aristocrat of Bands is one of them,” said Dr. Robert B. Miller, president and chairman of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, who came to TSU to personally present the band with the official tournament flag and invitation.

“It is a major accomplishment for the band, and for your university. This is a big deal,” he said. “In 132 years of the tournament, 107th  Rose Bowl this year, your band is going to be there. You are going to do entertainment like no other band in our parade does. Our parade has got 22 bands, 45 floats, the best floral and entertainment groups in the nation and TSU’s Aristocrat of Bands is going to be there.”

The Aristocrat of Bands entertains the crowd at the Gentry Center as the band celebrates words of their official invitation to the Rose Bowl Parade next year. (Photo by TSU Media Relations)

At the flag presentation in the Gentry Center, amid thunderous cheers from university officials, relatives, former band members, and Mr. and Miss TSU and their royal court, Miller congratulated TSU, the AOB and band director, Dr. Reginald McDonald, for their hard work in submitting a successful application.

Miller, who was accompanied by his wife, Barbara,  also pinned TSU officials present with the official lapel pin of the Tournament of Roses, including Dr. Alisa Mosley, interim vice president for Academic Affairs, who represented TSU President Glenda Glover. Dr. McDonald was also honored in recognition of his leadership.

In acknowledgment, the AOB, known worldwide for their melodious musical renditions and marching prowess, performed such favorites as “I am so glad I go to TSU,” and “Best Band.”

Dr. Reginald McDonald, TSU’s Director of Bands, says participating in the Rose Bowl is a longtime dream. (Photo by TSU Media Relations)


“This is huge and I am just excited beyond measure,” said band member Julien Dooley, after hearing his first trip ever to California will be to perform in the Rose Bowl Parade. “The Tournament of Roses is very huge, and I am excited because I actually have never been to the west coast, and the thought of my first trip being to perform before such a huge audience has got me very emotional.”

Dooley, an Atlanta native and a drum major with the AOB, is a senior commercial music major.

 Fellow student Cailyn Sparks, a member of the AOB Sophisticated Ladies Dance Line, is equally excited. Her parents will be there to see their daughter perform.

“This is an opportunity of a life time and I am glad my mom and dad and maybe some other family members will be there,” said Sparks, a junior elementary education major from Phenix City, Alabama, who will also be going to California for the first time. “I am extremely excited about going to the Rose Bowl and excited to be there with my family.”

McDonald, TSU’s director of Bands, who could not hide his excitement about the announcement from the Tournament of Roses president and the reaction of the crowd in the Gentry Complex, called the invitation and the selection to the Rose Bowl Parade a “longtime dream.”

“If you know anything about parades in this country, the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Macy’s Parade are numbers one and two,” he said. “To have either one of those parades on your performance as a portfolio, says a lot about your band program.”

Four college bands are selected each year to participate in the Tournament of Roses –two that apply and two with football teams that play in the Rose Bowl.

“This year it will be Tennessee State University and Georgia State University. That is huge,” McDonald said. “It says a lot about our university, it says a lot about the things we are trying to teach on a year-to-year basis. We selected to apply to the Tournament of Roses because to be recognized as the best, you have to participate in those things that are challenging and hard and are also part of being the best. “

For more information on the TSU Aristocrat of bands, go to http://www.tnstate.edu/aristocratofbands/

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a  premier, historically black university and land-grant institution offering 39 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and seven doctoral degrees.  TSU is a comprehensive research intensive institution with a R-2 Carnegie designation, and has a graduate school on its downtown Avon Williams Campus, along with the Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tennessee.  With a commitment to excellence, Tennessee State University provides students  with a quality education in a nurturing and innovative environment that prepares them as alumni to be global leaders in every facet of society. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.