In pretty much every contest, there’s a favorite and an underdog. When Tuskegee University’s Marching Crimson Pipers go up against Florida A&M’s Marching 100 on Saturday, they will be the underdogs, John Q. Leonard knows that.
A former saxaphone section leader for the Marching 100, Lennard knows all about the FAMU tradition.
Tuskegee, on the other hand, is still establishing its mark on the HBCU band world, as Lennard says none of the 110 students who will march in crimson and gold in Mobile on Saturday are music majors.
“It’s like a dream of mine to be teaching the band that I grew up with, Tuskegee University, against the band I marched in at Florida A&M,” he said.
Check out our band preview below.