Montana State’s Spirit of the West achieves decade-long goal of 200 members

BOZEMAN - Fourteen years ago, Montana State University's Spirit of the West Marching Band stood at 73 students. Today, that number has more than doubled.

The marching band reached a decade-long goal in July of registering at least 200 members, who represent more than 20 states and 40 majors. For 41 years, Spirit of the West has performed for Bobcat football and basketball games, campus events and community celebrations.

"In another 10 years, in 2035, I want to say, 'Hey, do you remember 2025 and what a great year that was? Let me tell you about the 2025 band,'" said Nathan Stark, MSU's director of bands.

A larger band creates a bolder sound and allows for more complex marching choreography, Stark said. With about 215 students, he hopes to stretch the band's formations between opposite ends of MSU's football field, from 5-yard line to 5-yard line.

Former MSU President Waded Cruzado, academic advisers and the dean's office in the College of Arts and Architecture were driving forces behind band recruitment, notably when Stark aimed for 130 members in 2013. At the time, MSU doubled the dollar amount of band scholarships, ushering in unprecedented growth. Spirit of the West members currently receive a four-year tuition reduction totaling $8,000, which Stark said empowers students who are balancing classes and work to pay for college.

Since then, band membership has remained steady and hovered in the 190s the past few years.

This season, freshman Hollie Banks was the band's 200th registered member. The clarinet player from Laurel watched Spirit of the West performance videos in high school and was in awe of its unique choreography - formations visually depicting the story of "Shrek" in 2023 came to mind - and opportunities for out-of-state travel, such as the band's performances in Frisco, Texas, at the Football Championship Subdivision game in 2022 and 2025.

Banks, who plans to study art education at MSU, enjoyed traveling as part of her high school's pep band and for the national Northern Musicians Abroad program, which gave her and her brother the opportunity to perform in six European countries as members of a youth ensemble.

"At MSU, I'm looking forward to not staying in my room, which is what I would do if I wasn't in the Spirit of the West," she said. "It gives me new places to go and people to meet."

"We want the marching band to be a reason for students to stay in school and find community," Stark said. "How easy would it be to just go to your room, eat, go to class and go back to your room? How lonely would that be? Our focus has been on how we turn the marching band into a tool for student success."

This week, Banks and her fellow band members are attending Spirit of the West's annual band camp before the first day of classes on Aug. 20. Students spend seven days auditioning, learning to march and rehearsing their pre-game show for the fall semester.

Jordan Jensen, a sixth-year biochemistry major from Townsend, mentors freshmen throughout the camp and will continue to lead the band during performance season as one of its drum majors. He keeps time and conducts during performances while also serving as a role model for younger students, whether they be from MSU or local high school bands that attend the university's drum major camps.

"It's so cool to be able to impart a lot of that wisdom on younger musicians," said Jensen, who is entering his fifth year with the band. "It's like a ball rolling down a hill: You get it started, and it's cool to see where it ends up."

Hearing that the band hit its 200-member milestone was "mind-boggling," Jensen said. For the past five years, the band has been his home, his support system and a way to reignite his passion for music, so watching incoming musicians uphold the band's legacy during camp is special.

"It's so rewarding to do all this hard work and practice and then to be able to produce something so beautiful when all is said and done," Jensen said. "Whether it is in a concert hall or on a field, there's something to be said about the power that music has."