Thiel Tomcat Marching Pride members selected for prestigious band festival

Posted December 27, 2023 Print

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Six members of the Thiel Tomcat Marching Pride have been selected to participate in 76th Annual Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band Festival in early February.

Thiel College students (name, hometown, instrument) selected for the event include:

Nola Blose ’27, Prospect, Pa. tuba
Olivia Cedar ’27, Lower Burrell, Pa., flute
Brianne Coatsworth ’24, Washington, Pa., tenor saxophone
Nova Firster ’25, Greenville, Pa., clarinet
Shelby Gebhardt ’27, Bessemer, Pa., baritone saxophone
Riley Smith ’26, Edinburg, Pa., euphonium

The Festival is being co-hosted by Geneva College and its band director Mark Godwin and Grove City College and former Thiel College band director Andrew Erb, D.M.A. Erb taught at Thiel and founded the Thiel Tomcat Marching Pride in 2010 and taught at Thiel until 2018 when he became professor of music and director of bands Grove City. Onsby Rose, D.M.A. will serve as our guest conductor. Rose has a long history as a trombonist, composer, and conductor with various Marine bands, has published many wonderful works for band many of which have been performed by Pershing’s Own, and currently serves as the Director of Bands at Dordt University in Iowa as well as the conductor of the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra.

The 76th Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band comprises 120 students from Pennsylvania colleges. The students will work with Rose throughout the festival with a culminating performance at 2 p.m. Feb. 4 at in the Ketler Auditorium in the PEW Fine Arts Center, located on the Grove City College campus.