100 Years of Excellence: Playing in a Traveling Band

By Marty Lamers

The Wauwatosa East High School marching band is something truly special. While many local high schools offer their students marching bands, few will ever have an established history so rich in excellence, tradition, and travel as the Red Raider Marching Band. With its origins going all the way back to 1923, this is a band with a rich, potent legacy.

In this band, traveling to other states for parades and competitions has been an integral part of it all from early on. Starting in 1961 with a trip to New York to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, the Tosa East band continues offering its students memorable, life-changing trips to perform in all parts of the United States and beyond.

As a child in the 70s, I used to hear the band practicing in the mornings or on weekends when they were getting ready for a show. I would often ride my bike to watch in awe as the band marched in elaborate field shows, the drums pounding right into my chest and making me want to play in the worst way.

I joined the band as a freshman drummer in 1982 and was with them until I moved in 1984. In that short time, I was able to travel with them to Indianapolis (to do the Indy 500 parade) and to New York for the Macy’s parade. We also did statewide competitions, and other smaller parades. I moved the year the band traveled to Orlando…so in just the time I was attending high school, being with the band offered us many unique opportunities for travel.

I played under the direction of the legendary Orville Matthias – affectionately and accurately known as “Boss.” Though I met him toward the end of his career, Boss was an amazing man who had a huge impact on my life. Intense and driven, he demanded excellence from his players and students, and he got it. Yet Boss opened doors, and provided opportunity for many of the talented students he believed in: I saw it time and again, and even enjoyed it myself.  He passionately supported our musical and personal growth. He did all he could to help us find opportunity, both in music and as people.

In researching this article, I learned that Boss was the third band director at East. He started in 1959 and he retired the year I graduated in 1985. More incredible to me, was learning that in its span of 100 years, the East band program has only had eight lead directors…suggesting this is a very special job, indeed.

To find out more about the history and legacy of the marching band at East, I reached out to the current band director, Mrs. Jennifer Lato.

The Beat Goes On

Successive directors after Matthias have tried to continue and expand those traditions and have now successfully brought East’s band to appreciative worldwide audiences. Last year, they marched in Hawaii and just before that, had traveled all the way to Dublin, Ireland to perform. Mrs. Lato is understandably proud of her traveling musicians and is grateful for their increased opportunities.

“This marching band is very unique and has an incredibly strong history,” she said. “Though every director may have approached it a little differently, the band is always clearly focused on the basic tenants of travel, performance, and community-centered activity. We consider performing anywhere an honor, and we consistently deliver top level performances on stage, in the field, or when marching in parades. Many bands enjoy competitions and performances, but no one else has the legacy and enjoys the level of respect that East’s band has achieved…it’s truly quite special.”

I can attest; traveling with the marching band in high school gave me some of the best, most lasting memories of my life.  Going to Macy’s in New York was amazing for us all – like many, this was the first time I had ever been that far outside of Wisconsin. There were a lot of firsts for me on that trip. I was honored and humbled by it all, and very grateful for the opportunity.

Mrs. Lato gave me insight as to why there have only been eight band directors in 100 years, because this job is as precious and unique as the band itself. “There is a lot of responsibility tied to being the band director at East,” she said. “Of course and most importantly, there are the students, but there is also a long, rich history to take care of as well. As band director you become the archivist and custodian of this history, and we all work very hard to better understand and preserve it.”

Mrs. Lato said that being the band’s director is an incredible honor, and for her a career milestone. Unlike other jobs that might be steppingstones to finding better things, Mrs. Lato said this position is one that is, and was her ultimate destination. She considers herself very lucky to have the support and quickly credits the expertise of her assistant director and the band boosters. “Our success is always a team effort,” she says.

She encourages old band alumni (like me) to stay involved and to find ways to help boost the band. She pointed out that there are a variety of online resources now to help you stay in tune with what the band is doing, including places where you can donate or even participate in upcoming concerts or parades.

“We have a website with a calendar and all kinds of booster-related information. There are links for sheet music downloads too, so alumni can participate bi-annually in the Wauwatosa Independence Day Parade. Recently we started inviting alumni to come back to play and march with the band, so there are always fun new ways to get or stay involved.”

She added that the band is also increasing their social media presence today, keeping in-step and adapting to current trends. There is a Facebook group (Wauwatosa East Band Alumnae), an Instagram account, and even a TikTok account for the Red Raider Marching band (Follow us: @TosaEastRRB). She was proud to say that the band even recently went viral on TikTok, which is no surprise to me.