For only the second time in UT history, two women have been named the new drum major and assistant drum major of the Pride of the Southland Marching Band.

Sydney Flenniken and Grace Dobrescu were named by the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music. The last time two women filled the positions was 2017.

“It is an incredible honor and achievement. The last time it happened in 2017 was with Rebecca (Percy), the drum major I took lessons from, so having that connection with her has been super interesting to know that she did this, and now I’m getting to do it as well,” Flenniken said. “It makes people feel more empowered to kind of come up and audition for this role.”

As the drum major, fifth-year senior Flenniken is responsible for the entire 415-person band.

“I kind of see it in two different ways, where you’re the representation of the (band). Also, when it comes to duties and responsibilities, the main ones are keeping rehearsal moving, letting the band know what’s going to happen next, starting and ending most actions that the band does. And then for game days, making sure you know the tempos for all 64 tunes that we have,” Flenniken said.

Game days aren’t complete without “Rocky Top” blaring through Neyland Stadium, and the band helps that atmosphere come to life. Junior Dobrescu helps assist Flenniken, as well as lead the Vol Walk.

“As assistant drum major, the biggest thing is backup. If anything bad happens, then I will be up there to step in and to do everything that she does. For game days, there’s two ladders, so Sydney will be on the tall one, and I’ll be on the one over, and I’ll basically always be watching the game, and I’ll be the person that tells Sydney when to cut off songs or pieces. And I’ll also be the one that communicates to the band with our little digital board what pieces we’re going to play,” Dobrescu said.

Representing the band is no small feat, and requires a lot of training. Both Flenniken and Dobrescu started their passion and love from a very young age, eventually transitioning from their respective instruments to the drum major position. 

“When I was doing drum major in high school, I actually took lessons from (Percy), who was a drum major here in 2017,” Flenniken said. “Drum major wasn’t really something I thought about until we reconnected, and she encouraged me to go for it.”

Flenniken was named assistant drum major as a sophomore, an impressive feat for the competitive program.

“It’s super exciting, because I’ve been super close to this position the past three years, and now I’m actually getting to step into the shoes of it, which is really cool. But a big part of it for me is making sure I represent the band in the best way possible,” Flenniken said. “I’m not just representing, like, music majors, I’m representing all kinds of people within the band program, so making sure that I’m doing that to the best that I can.”

Flenniken and Dobrescu have both found a second family in the band, citing their enhanced experience because of the people they’ve met and the connections they’ve made.

“It’s a community, and it’s a family. We kind of joke about calling each other family all the time, but that’s genuinely what it is like. There are people like, (I would) take a bullet for, and there are people (that would) take a bullet for me, and it’s people I didn’t know until I joined this group that I marched with now. We all have the same goal, and it’s getting on the field, putting on the best show that we can and doing it together as an ensemble,” Flenniken said.

As this close-knit community approaches a new season, Flenniken and Dobrescu are determined to continue to make the band great.

“Obviously, we want to perform well, and we want to play well, but at the end of the day, what this ensemble is trying to do is create better people through music and create better people through the community like this, once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity to have this sense of community,” Dobrescu said. “It’s interesting that 415 people could still feel so close together, but I do think it’s really special that this in this program, like it’s just, it’s very easy to feel welcomed and to feel loved.”