First Playing of "Red and Black March"

Taken from the UGA Office of Public Affairs: News Service:

Media Advisory: Professor plays “Red and Black March”
Writer: Larry B. Dendy, 706/542-8078, ldendy@uga.edu
Contacts: Lloyd Winstead, 706/542-3966, winstead@uga.edu; Martha Thomas, 706/542-2760, mlthomas@uga.edu
Jun 20, 2008, 15:34

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Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia music professor Martha Thomas recently played a piano version of the “Red and Black March,” which was composed 100 years ago and is believed to be the University of Georgia’s first school song. Thomas’ performance may be the first time the piece has been heard in decades because the music was thought to be lost.

A video of Thomas’ performance, and background information on the march, are available on the Web on the UGA Home Page, www.uga.edu. The video can also be accessed at http://www.video.alumni.uga.edu/page5/page5.html.

The march was composed in 1908 by R. E. Haughey, UGA’s first band director. No copy of the music was known to exist until Lloyd Winstead, associate director of UGA’s Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, found it for sale on eBay and bought it for $12.50.

The four-page sheet music is scored for piano and is not an arrangement for band. Thomas performed the piece June 13 in the Ramsey Concert Hall of UGA’s Performing Arts Center.

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