Hundreds Of Exes Set To Wow Fans With Alumni Band’s Annual Halftime Performance

By randyramirez in Blog on October 22, 2010 at 8:46 am | No Comments

Each fall, Longhorn Band alumni get to brush the dust off their instruments and marching shoes and once again play their hearts out on the field at a home football game. This year’s performance will be at Saturday’s Texas vs. Iowa State game.

Members of the Longhorn Band have always been a tight-knit and dedicated group, and that doesn’t change once the musicians receive their diplomas. The dues-paying Longhorn Alumni Band counts more than 3,000 Exes among its members.

While some followed up their college days with careers in music, many more punch time cards as engineers, teachers, geologists, and every other kind of professional you can imagine. But once a year, they get the chance to relive glory days playing music for thousands while marching on the field of one of the largest college football stadiums in the country.

Longhorn Band director Vincent DiNino organized the Longhorn Alumni Band in 1964 with 67 members. Forty-six years later, the band is best-known for its annual halftime performance, but that’s just the first note of the band’s many activities. 

Groups of the alumni band also gather throughout the year to play at birthday parties, wedding receptions, Longhorn pep rallies, and more. Donations earned from those appearances support scholarships for current Longhorn Band members.

If you’ll be in the stands at Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium tomorrow, stick around at halftime to see performances by students in the Longhorn Band (they don’t call it the Showband of the Southwest for nothing) and alumni in the Longhorn Alumni Band. And be on the lookout for DiNino — though days short of turning 92, he’s still going strong and plans to direct the alumni Saturday. 

Learn more about the Longhorn Alumni Band at Lhab.org or by reading “I’m With the Band,” a first-hand account of the weekend from the May|June 2008 Alcalde by Jim Richards, BS ’56.