The University of California Marching Band is Under the Direction of Robert O. Briggs
(Written by jsnell)
Robert O. Briggs, who “joined the Cal Band as a freshman in the fall of 1947 and essentially never left,” has died at the age of 81.
As someone for whom the opening ceremonies before a Cal game are as close as I’m ever going to get to the level of pomp, ceremony, and symbolic meaning of a Catholic mass (sorry, Ken), it’s fair to say that in some ways Robert O. Briggs was the leader of my own peculiar church choir.
Never knew the man, never spoke a word to him. But the fact is, the phrase that heads this blog post is a phrase that will take me back to my childhood, fall Saturdays spent in Strawberry Canyon at Memorial Stadium. And I know I’m not alone — Briggs’s name would be cheered every year at Alumni Band Day when it was announced that he was conducting both bands as a part of the halftime show.
The Chronicle obituary is sweet and, I’ll admit, the air on my bus ride to work this morning got a bit dusty as I read about Briggs and his commitment to the Cal band, especially this part:
Mr. Briggs never married and leaves no children. “You could say that the Cal Band was his family,” said Calonico. “It was a big part of his life.”
CAL BAND’S GREAT!
Jamie Rawson, Bass ’77, has a remembrance of Briggs at California Golden Blogs. And Erin’s got a remembrance on her blog.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
This is really awful to hear. He sat near me at basketball games last year. He was in remarkable shape for 81-year old. Win or lose, my dad and I would always hang out after the games to wait for him to hopefully lead the band to play “One More River.”