Spirit of Houston

The Spirit of Houston Cougar Marching Band
The Spirit of Houston Cougar Marching Band
School	University of Houston
Location	Houston, Texas
Conference	The American
Founded	1947
Director	Cameron Kubos
Members	270
Fight song	"Cougar Fight Song"
Website	www.uhbands.com

The Spirit of Houston consists of the Cougar Marching Band and other spirit groups at the University of Houston, including the “UH” Cheer teams, the Cougar Dolls Dance Team, the “UH” Feature Twirlers, the Mascots, and the Cougar Brass. The Spirit of Houston is currently under the direction of “Director of Athletic Bands” and “Spirit Groups”, Cameron Kubos. The Cougar Marching Band is widely known for performing in a wide variety of styles of marching band (corps, military, show, etc.). The CMB is also known for its characteristic tonal quality, following in the tradition pioneered by Bill Moffit, Robert Mayes, and David Bertman. Three men who led the Spirit of Houston for over three decades between them. The band consists of about 270 students, about one third of which are music majors. Other past directors have included Marc Martin, Troy Bennefield and John Alstrin.

History

From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, the Spirit of Houston was under the direction of Bill Moffit, an innovator in the marching band field. Moffit is credited with creating the Patterns in Motion marching style made famous during his tenure at UH. Patterns in Motion quickly became very popular among many other collegiate and high school marching bands as the style quickly spread across the nation. He is also well known as an arranger of both traditional band tunes and modern popular songs.

Following the departure of Moffit to Purdue University Greg Talford became director. Talford, hailing from Michigan, moved the band toward drum corps style and required memorization of all music and marching patterns, held regular sectionals, and both challenged and raised the bar for the band. Robert Mayes followed Greg Talford, coming to UH after holding positions at Texas Tech and the University of Wyoming with a reputation for high-energy performances, was named the director of the Cougar Marching Band. Under his direction, the Cougar Marching Band continued to set a standard of music. Mayes led the band to become internationally known.^{[citation needed]} During his tenure, the band traveled to Japan, England, Ireland, France, and Mexico.

In 2000, David Bertman was hired as the director of the Spirit of Houston. He was charged with the task of maintaining the tradition that had been so firmly entrenched by the bands of Moffit and Mayes. Under his direction, the Cougar Marching Band continued its musical excellence and led the University of Houston in spirit is support of the Houston Cougars football team. Coupled with the team's success, the Spirit of Houston has contributed greatly to a growing excitement among students and alumni to see the Cougars return to the upper echelon of college football.^{[citation needed]}

Following Bertman's promotion to Director of Bands, Troy Bennefield was hired to become the marching band director in 2011. Cameron Kubos became the director of the Spirit of Houston in the summer of 2018. The UH Drumline is currently under the direction of Jamey Kollar.

In 2004 the Spirit of Houston was featured in the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.^[1]

On November 14, 2015, the Spirit of Houston performed "Gwan" with the Gulf Coast Soul Band, The Suffers, during the football halftime show.^[2]

During the spring 2018 semester, associate director Marc Martin resigned from his position after being found guilty in an investigation conducted by the University of inappropriate behavior toward multiple students.^[3]

On September 24, 2022, the Spirit of Houston performed "Red Alert" alongside Paul Wall and Bun B, during the football halftime show.

Music

The Spirit of Houston's primary repertoire includes the following:

"Cougar Fight Song", the university's official fight song
"Eat 'Em Up", a secondary fight song of the university which was originally written by director Bill Moffit, and subsequently used by most other college marching bands today
"The Horse"
"Womp Womp"
“Hustlin’”
"June 27th"

Cheer

The UH Cheer team is under the direction of Spirit Coordinator Khristal Harbert and Cheer Coach Cassidy Burkle.

Cougar Dolls

The UH Cougar Dolls are under the direction of Spirit Coordinator Khristal Harbert and Dolls Coach Amanda Duran.

Twirlers

The UH Feature Twirlers have a long history of successful and talented twirlers.

Cougar Brass

The Cougar Brass is the University of Houston's basketball band and is currently under the direction of Cameron Kubos.

References

^ "Houston Bands March With Yamaha at Super Bowl XXXVIII". Yamaha. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
^ "Spirit of Houston set to perform with local band the Suffers". Retrieved 2016-07-13.
^ "Associate Band Director Resigns After Allegations of "Inappropriate Behavior" with Students".

External links

[1] "Houston Bands March With Yamaha at Super Bowl XXXVIII". Yamaha. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

[2] "Spirit of Houston set to perform with local band the Suffers". Retrieved 2016-07-13.

[3] "Associate Band Director Resigns After Allegations of "Inappropriate Behavior" with Students".

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Houston Cougars football
Venues	Robertson Stadium (1946–1950, 1998–2012) Rice Stadium (1950–1964) Houston Astrodome (1965–1997) Reliant Stadium (2013) BBVA Compass Stadium (2013) TDECU Stadium (2014–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Rice SMU Texas Tech Tulsa
Culture & lore	Shasta "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston Veer option The Comeback Victory 2022 SMU game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Fertitta Center (1969–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice SMU
Culture & lore	Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Houston Cougars women's basketball
Venues	Fertitta Center (1975–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice
Culture & lore	History Shasta "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Head coaches Retired numbers
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
Artists	MusicBrainz