The Harvard Band is entirely student-run, from the writing of halftime shows to the arrangements of music to administrative work and financial planning. The five members of the Band’s Student Leadership (aka “Senior Staff”) make sure the Band is in the right place at the right time—all the time. All inquiries should be addressed to the Band’s Leadership Team.
Ameera is a sophomore from New York, NY, double concentrating in Social Studies and Music. In the Band, you will see her marching up the street with a piccolo in her pocket, or taking any chance to play snare drum or cymbals. Outside of the Band, you can find Ameera rambling about social theory, playing in pit orchestras, powerlifting, or researching jewelry options for her next piercing.
Jonathan is a sophomore from Woodbridge, NJ, concentrating in Mechanical Engineering with a secondary in Energy and Environment. In the band, he plays baritone as a loyal member of the Low Brass. Aside from band, Jonathan can be found at MQC as a Calculus course assistant, or playing video games late into the night.
Mei is a sophomore from Kizugawa, Kyoto, Japan, concentrating in Integrative Biology. She plays the baritone horn in the band and is also a loyal member of the Low Brass. Outside of the band, Mei performs with the New England Brass Band and conducts research in an Entomology lab at the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Erick is a sophomore from Neptune, NJ concentrating in Bioengineering with a mechanical subtrack. In the band, you will see him playing a plethora of instruments and switching to wherever he is needed most. Outside of band, Erick is a historian with the Harvard Society of Hispanic Engineers, a multimedia junior executive for The Harvard Crimson, and member of Harvard Undergraduate Service With A Name.
Gracie is a junior from Duluth, MN concentrating in Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience & Evolutionary Psychology) with a secondary in Education Studies. As a former Percussion Cousin, you can find her mainly playing snare, tenors, or whatever else is needed. Outside of the band, Gracie can be spotted around campus involved in Sexual Health Advocacy, ASL, listening to 60s music, and pronouncing words like a true Minnesotan.
Besides the five Senior Staff positions, there are over 20 other staff positions to make sure that the finer details of the Band’s operations don’t slip through any cracks. New members are eligible to run for a staff position after their first football season—in fact, most of the positions are held by first-years and sophomores—and it is a great way to serve as a leader in an organization very early in your Harvard career.
The Band fields all types of instruments—from tiny piccolos to huge sousaphones—with each instrument group making up a section. These sections work together musically in weekly sectionals and become close-knit families away from home.
If you don’t see an instrument you play, don’t worry—you can find a home in our illustrious prop crew.
The Band wouldn’t be able to function without our Prop Crew. Clad in white jumpsuits, Prop Crew takes care of a huge number of miscellaneous tasks such as playing Bertha, driving the prop crew van, and, most importantly, making props to wield during the Band’s field shows. Best of all, you don’t need to play an instrument to be in Prop Crew!
Mark Olson, Director of Bands at Harvard, served as Interim Conductor of the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, guest conductor of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, and currently is Director of the Middlesex Concert Band.
Olson received his BM degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and an MA degree in Music Education from the University of Minnesota. His conducting teachers have included Craig Kirchhoff and J. Robert Hanson. An active trumpet performer and soloist, he is currently the Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony and performs with the New Sousa Band. He is a former member of the Charles River Wind Ensemble, Mankato Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Winona Brass Band. He has studied trumpet with David Baldwin, Gary Bordner and J. Robert Hanson.
Bassoonist Jensen Ling is an active orchestral and chamber musician in the New England area. Originally from Boca Raton, Florida, he is a keen interpreter of a broad expanse of repertoire, from the Bach canon and standard repertory to Gubaidulina and Sciarrino. In addition to holding the position of principal bassoon with the Marsh Chapel Collegium, Jensen frequently appears in and around Boston with the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music, Cantata Singers, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Odyssey Opera, Back Bay Chorale, New Bedford Symphony, Albany Symphony, Symphony New Hampshire, Boston Philharmonic, and Sound Icon. He has also appeared at the Rockport Chamber Festival and was named a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow for the 2016-2017 Season at Emmanuel Music. He has played under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, Joseph Silverstein, Robert Spano, Gunther Schuller, Maxim Shostakovich, and John Harbison, among others.
Jensen studied at The New England Conservatory of Music and Boston University with Boston Symphony bassoonists Gregg Henegar and Richard Ranti, and with Palm Beach Opera bassoonist, Michael Ellert, prior to moving to Boston. Additional studies include chamber music with John Heiss. For the past several summers, Jensen has served as the Young Artists Orchestra Program Manager and as a member of the chamber music faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Currently, Jensen makes his home in the great neighborhood of Lower Allston, where he lives with his girlfriend Anna, a violist, and their cat, Pig.
When Brown bandies came to steal the drum, both future-manager Sam Coppersmith and newly-appointed director Thomas G. Everett unwittingly helped the thieves load Bertha onto their truck. Despite this inauspicious beginning, Sam went on to become a congressman, and Tom has become well-known for his outstanding contributions to the Harvard Band’s past and present.
Since his appointment to the Harvard faculty in 1971 until his retirement in 2013, Thomas G. Everett directed the Harvard Wind Ensemble, the Harvard Summer Pops Band, the Marching Band and the Harvard Jazz Bands, which he founded. His musicality has brought the Harvard wind groups to a high pitch of excellence, leading to international tours for both the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band.
Tom is a graduate of the Ithaca College Conservatory of Music. He has held teaching positions at Brown University, the New England Conservatory, the International Trombone Workshop, and the Indiana University Summer School, in addition to Harvard. As a noted bass trombonist, he has performed with the Bolshoi Ballet, the Boston Pops, the Portland (Maine) Symphony, and the jazz bands of Tommy Dorsey, Dizzy Gillespie, and the Ray Charles Orchestra. He is the founder and first president of the International Trombone Association and has premiered in recital over thirty new works for bass trombone.
In 1989 the Hungarian government presented him with their Artijus for outstanding performance of Hungarian music. He also conducted a live program of American Wind music on Hungarian radio.
Tom and Alice “Mom” Tondel have been the spirit of the Band for the past twenty years. In the tradition of Mal Holmes, Tom has always trusted students to run the band. His musical direction and invaluable historical perspective have supported the Band through its lively years to the current band. As director for 30 years, he has befriended and guided generations of crimson-clad bandies and continues to lead the Band in the spirit of excellence and fun. After 40 years of music, Tom retired as director of the Harvard Bands on February 15, 2013.
