Beautiful Sound May Complement Beautiful View for Musician
BVU Marching Blue, the University’s marching band, will make its first appearance in 21 years while entertaining players and fans in the third annual Community Night football game.
The physical beauty of Buena Vista University attracted Josh Dunsbergen to the Storm Lake campus more than one year ago.
The sound of the place has him even more excited about his college choice.
Dunsbergen plays trombone for the BVU Marching Blue, the University’s marching band, which makes its first appearance in 21 years on campus while entertaining players and fans as the Beavers host Concordia University in the third annual Community Night football game on Peterson Field at J. Leslie Rollins Stadium on Sept. 14.
“We came to school early and worked hard to get the band ready. Everyone showed positive attitudes. We want to this to be as good as it can for BVU.”
Josh Dunsbergen
The day is a busy one, featuring a return of the Great Cardboard Boat Race on Storm Lake at 3:30 p.m. Fans are then treated to free admission, free contests, and free popcorn as the Beavers tackle the Bulldogs at 6 p.m.
The BVU Marching Blue will play pregame music and a halftime show featuring the sounds of Queen. “We Will Rock You,” is a Queen standard the band will cover. It also describes how Dunsbergen feels about the 33-member BVU Marching Blue, a group that began practice this season with one week of 10-hour days before the school year commenced.
“There’s a lot of excitement and energy surrounding the band’s comeback after being gone 21 years,” says Dunsbergen. “We came to school early and worked hard to get the band ready. Everyone showed positive attitudes. We want to this to be as good as it can for BVU.”
Dunsbergen, a sophomore from Lynnville, mirrors the academic experience of most fellow musicians in that he’s not a music major. He studies criminology and psychology. As such, also benefits this fall from another new entity on campus, BVU’s Center for Criminal Justice Studies.
“We have business majors, education majors, digital media majors, music majors, and several other majors represented in the BVU Marching Blue,” says Tiffany Wurth, director of bands. “Being in the band gives our students another avenue to share their talents with the student body and the community. Plus, it’s a great part of the well-rounded academic and extracurricular experience you receive at BVU.”
Dunsbergen’s array of talents and interests shows in how he arrived. The two-time state wrestling tournament participant was recruited to wrestle for the Beavers. Instead, he ended up running distances and the steeplechase for the track team. In his spare time, he picked up his trombone and began playing for the BVU Blue Steel as Wurth, with help from administrators, staff members, and generous BVU benefactors, resurrected the University’s pep band, a precursor to the Marching Blue.
“I joined the pep band and had so much fun playing,” Dunsbergen says. “And then we traveled to area high schools last winter and joined their pep bands on certain nights. Being at Newell-Fonda High School and playing in a 50-person pep band as the state’s best girls’ basketball team played before a packed house, you could just feel the electricity. It was a great feeling.”
He’s hoping to bottle a similar vibe on Community Night when the BVU Marching Blue high-steps around midfield as the sun sets across adjacent Storm Lake.
The place that had a “buena vista” (beautiful view) may also have a magnificent sound to complete the lakeshore scene.
“BVU has been a great fit for me,” says Dunsbergen. “The fact I’m in band speaks to all the opportunities here. It’s so easy and so much fun to get involved.”