LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Walk into any band rehearsal space 15 minutes before the start of practice and you’ll notice the erratic screeching of woodwind instruments tuning, brass instruments clinking, and the chit chat of familiar friends reconnecting.
One particular Friday afternoon, about a month prior to the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, that was the case in a large basement rehearsal space at UofL’s School of Music.
“Okay,” Dr. Jason Cumberledge said. “My Old Kentucky Home, our state song. This was arranged by our director of bands, and this is the first time we’ve played it this year.”
Cumberledge is UofL’s director of Marching Bands. Not only is he passionate about music, but his love for Derby shines throughout the rehearsal.
“Two things I care about on Derby Day are, does the band sound good? And, is it raining,” he says.
The Cardinal Marching Band has been the official band of the Kentucky Derby since 1936. The band is featured prominently each year as it plays “My Old Kentucky Home” in front of an in-person audience of 150,000 people and a television audience of up to 20 million people.
“The impact and the recognition that we get as a band program with our name put on television as we play that song, there’s no monetary value that can be placed on that,” he said.
That recognition can easily turn into scrutiny if something goes wrong, and Cumberledge and his entire team knows it. That’s why they practice the song one measure at a time. “It’s very important and imperative and imperative,” he says. “We go note by note to make sure every note is started and ended the way that it’s supposed to be. It’s very important.”
Hearing the song, in real-time on Derby Day elicits a lot of emotion, which is often easily noticed when watching the crowd. What’s less noticeable, is the pride experienced by those playing it.
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“It’s unlike any other feeling I’ve ever experienced before,” Caitlin Kemper, the band’s senior drum major from southern Indiana, said. “It’s immense privilege to be a part of something that feels part of my culture and to know that I am not only witnessing it, but an active participant in that day,” she said.
Graduate teaching assistant and former player Nicholas Beeny says he tells first-year students how important playing the state song at the Kentucky Derby is.
“You start to hear the roar of the crowd as the horses start to come out,” he said. “They announce the marching band, and you start to play, and honestly, you just kind of blackout because it’s hard to take it all in.”
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