Director's Corner
April 2017
Dear Rutgers University Band Alumni,
I would like to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Todd Nichols and I am deeply honored and incredibly grateful to be your new Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands. Before I share some thoughts with you, I would like to take a moment and thank Professor Tim Smith for his undying dedication and leadership of the RU marching band and athletic band program for nearly twenty years! Thank you Professor Smith! We are very grateful for your years of dedicated direction and vision. Please know the RU marching band and I wish you the absolute best in all your future endeavors!
The purpose of this letter is for me to let you know how excited I am to begin our new journey together! I want you to know that Professor Bott and I have already begun preparing for the 2017 season and school year. I promise you this…. OUR BAND ALUMNI MATTER!!!! YOU ARE IMPORTANT AND WE CARE ABOUT YOU! Please know that Professor Bott and I are deeply committed to strengthening ties with our alumni and opening the lines of communication so that we can all work together for the betterment of our fine organization! It is because of our dedicated alumni that we are where we are today. Thank you all for your never-ending support and for trailblazing the path!
Stay tuned in the weeks and months to come for announcements on what is happening in our RU band program. Today, I am proud to announce the appointment of our new Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Director of Athletic Bands. Please help me welcome Mr. Joe Busuito to our RU band family. Joe joins us from the University of Illinois and his experience in a large B1G university band program will be invaluable to the growth of our program and strength of our band director team. Welcome Joe!
In addition to increased and improved communication, I have many goals as your new director; first on the docket is substantially increase our membership in the MSK. In addition, you can expect the following from me as we prepare for our 2017 season…
Excellent and detailed communication from the band program to our band alumni
Updated website and social media presence including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Exciting show designs
Strong recruiting efforts
More collaboration and inclusion at events with our band alumni and RU Alumni Band
Assessment and maintenance of our instrument inventory and music library
Deep dedication to our entire band and RU band traditions
Sincere respect for all parts of our band…..Winds, Percussion, Color Guard, and Alumni
I want you to know that I have been a tremendous fan of the Rutgers band for decades. I have seen many performances and I am sincerely impressed not only by the musicianship and performance level but more importantly the character and work ethic of those involved. The time I spent on campus getting to work with the MSK and concert ensembles was simply wonderful! I am sincerely grateful that now I get to work with this program every day. As we are now a member of the Big Ten, there is an expectation that we will not only deliver high quality performances week after week, but more importantly, we will be a leader in the Big Ten for musical and visual excellence. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to help us create a cutting edge, highly respected, and nationally recognized athletic band program at RU! I addition, I will work alongside my colleagues and do my part to help build a B1G concert band program of national distinction. With your help, we will all take this RU band to the next level and become a band program of absolute excellence!
There is much more that I want to list but I’ll save that for later on. For now I want to say thank you for welcoming me to the Rutgers band family. I cannot wait to meet you all and get started on putting our 2017 programs together! Please know my door is always open and I want to get to meet each and every one of you!
Here’s to an incredible beginning together!!!! Go RU and Go Marching Scarlet Knights!!!!