With Spirit (and Sousaphones!), the Pep Band Powers Big Red Fandom

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‘Aardvarking’ and More: Fascinating Facts about the Marching Band

The student-run group energizes players, taunts the opposition, and catalyzes supporters at home and on the road

By Joe Wilensky

If Cornell’s Lynah Faithful embodies the soul of the gleefully obsessive fan base of Big Red Hockey, then the Pep Band is its beating heart. And while the often-raucous, red-and-white-stripe-clad group may call Lynah Rink its spiritual home, ice hockey games are hardly their only showcase.

Once a subset of the Big Red Marching Band, the Pep Band has been its own organization since 1986.

The group’s spirited tunes can be heard at home or on the road—in rinks, stadiums, and gyms. Its roughly 75 musicians play at basketball, lacrosse, soccer, and sprint football games, as well as at wrestling matches and track and field events.

The band plays at basketball, lacrosse, soccer, and sprint football games, as well as at wrestling matches and track and field events.

And Pep Band members don’t just perform Cornell standards—from the “Alma Mater” to “Give My Regards to Davy”—but execute choreographed moves and lead many of the famed hockey chants at Lynah Rink.

They also do more than their fair share of jeering opposing teams—like waving car keys while shouting “Warm up the bus!”

Its repertoire runs the gamut: arrangements of Weather Report’s “Birdland,” the Rocky theme “Gonna Fly Now,” Louis Armstrong’s “Basin Street Blues,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City,” the Who’s “Pinball Wizard,” Muse’s “Knights of Cydonia,” and more.

“Being in Pep Band was one of my favorite parts of Cornell,” says Kathryn Abbott Manocchia ’12, who played baritone horn and served as a conductor for two semesters. “It gave me a way to hang out with friends, go to lots of popular sporting events, and travel around the country, all while getting to play some really fun songs.”

Manocchia saw men’s ice hockey win the 2010 ECAC Championship in Albany, NY, and conducted at the NCAA basketball tournament in Jacksonville, FL, as part of the team’s 2010 Sweet 16 run.

“I loved being a vital part of the atmosphere, and it was really special how much we could pump up our teams,” she recalls. “Being a conductor was particularly fun, because you could directly affect the mood with an aptly timed cheer, or by choosing their favorite songs.”

I loved being a vital part of the atmosphere, and it was really special how much we could pump up our teams.

Kathryn Abbott Manocchia ’12

While the vast majority of Pep Band members are also in the Marching Band, there are some differences between the groups.

Tommy McFarland ’26, the Pep Band’s current manager, notes that the Marching Band may concentrate a bit more on performance, while the Pep Band may be more invested in the games and their outcomes—knowing many of the players and cheering wildly.

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“Our relationship with the teams we work with is really strong,” McFarland says. “So that makes it a lot more personal: they care that we’re there, and we care about the players we’re rooting for.”

The student-run Pep Band typically travels more for away games and special events and championships, whether it’s to NYC for the Frozen Apple and Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden or to lacrosse finals, the Frozen Four, March Madness, and other tournaments.

Our relationship with the teams we work with is really strong. They care that we’re there, and we care about the players we’re rooting for.

Tommy McFarland ’26

Given the many away games, the band often has to divide and conquer, says clarinet-playing alum Scott Pesner ’87.

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On just one weekend in March 2025, he notes, it had to split into three groups: for a men’s hockey ECAC quarterfinal at Colgate, an NCAA women’s hockey quarterfinal at Lynah Rink, and an Ivy men’s basketball tournament in Providence.

“The following weekend, 15 members flew to Minneapolis for the women’s Frozen Four, while another contingent went to the ECAC tournament in Lake Placid,” adds Pesner, who's also the current president of the Cornell Hockey Association. “I think this shows their dedication and spirit.”

And Pep Band membership doesn’t end with graduation: alumni often join in at away games, boosting the numbers (and volume).

At a 2017 men’s hockey game against Quinnipiac, for example, Manocchia helped organize a full-sized group comprising current students, recent alumni, and those who graduated in the ’90s.

“We sounded awesome,” she reports, “and it was cool to hear the same songs being played by alumni across several generations.”

Historically, playing at Lynah is the band’s most coveted gig. In the 1990s, it even released Live at Lynah, a CD recorded with the Faithful, featuring 66 tunes and chants.

In the 1990s, the band even released Live at Lynah, a CD recorded with the Faithful, featuring 66 tunes and chants.

Since Lynah slots are limited to about 50, a point system has long been used, with band members earning credit for attending rehearsals, other games, and miscellaneous events.

“We have a wide variety of genres, so we can get all age groups engaged,” says Lauren Noll ’27, a current conductor. “You feel like you’re leading the student section, and people notice when we’re not there.”

So what’s the ideal musical makeup for a Pep Band performance?

“I might get flak from some people, but I was a trumpet player, so I lean heavy on the brass,” says Adam Mangano Drenkard ’11, president of the band’s 3,500-member alumni association.

“For a 50-person band, I’d probably want something like 10 to 12 trumpets, 10 to 12 trombones, and three tubas. Probably a snare, tenor, or quad drum; and one bass drum, a cymbal, and four mellophones or horns. Maybe six to eight saxes, and the rest would be some combination of flutes and clarinets.”

We have a wide variety of genres, so we can get all age groups engaged.

Lauren Noll ’27

The band’s many traditions include taunting the Big Red’s opponents by playing the fight song of that team’s main rival—like launching into the University of Michigan’s “The Victors” at a Michigan State game, or “Anchors Aweigh,” the Navy’s song, at a game against Army.

And when Harvard takes the ice at Lynah, the band plays the theme from the 1970 film Love Story, which depicts the two teams’ longtime rivalry.

Another Lynah standard is the audience-favorite “Hey!” (Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2”). Accompanied by a dance, it’s performed before the last period; members then lead the crowd in chanting “Rough ’em up! Rough ’em up! Go CU!”

“That’s a big one,” McFarland says. “The student section loves to sing along.”

Top: The Pep Band in Lynah during a 2019 men’s game against Clarkson. (Cornell University)

Published November 25, 2025

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Comments

1. 

   Karen Viglione Lauterwasser, Class of 1976

   26 Nov, 2025

   Some of my favorite memories are from Pep Band back in the day (1974-1979 or so). So before the awesome matching shirts! I played trumpet, but sometimes we were so short of folks that I eventually learned enough snare drum to stand in for that spot. We traveled to Boston for the ECAC tournament and got parked in; went to Johns Hopkins for the lacrosse championships – the list could go on. Good fun and musically challenging at the same time. I haven’t yet made it to an alumni event, but it could happen. I’d have to get the trumpet out and practice…

   Reply

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