Virginia State University's
Trojan Explosion

By Carolyne S. Blount
Photos by Kenneth Sumerville and James Holden

More than one hundred young adults moving as one. The sight is poetic. The sound is a symphony of the soul. Marching bands celebrate black Ivy League spirit in a big way. Schools vie for bragging rights. The prowess of the marching bands is used in recruitment. Directors do almost anything to be the best.

The routines for marchers, flag groups and dancers grow more elaborate by the year. In many places, the result is heart-pounding and captivating entertainment. At some football games, the fans come for the bands instead of the teams.

A favorite among conference crowds in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the Virginia State University Marching Trojan Explosion is well-known for their exciting halftime performances at Saturday football games and in holiday parades. Accompanied by a flag corps and the Essence of Troy dancers, the musicians rehearse most evenings from August through November.

The excitement begins in mid-August with the first strains of the marching band beating its signature drum corps, as the full ensemble begins twice a day practices up until the start of fall semester classes. Then, each afternoon about 4 p.m., students, faculty and administrators alike muse to the marching and antics of the Trojan Explosion.

For years, the band practiced its marching, formations and precision moves by weaving its way from the old music building at the south end of VSU's 236-acre Ettrick campus, to the band's practice field adjacent to Daniel Gymnasium near the campus' north end up by Rogers Stadium, drawing enthusiastic responses from passersby and students who often come out to enjoy the music and cheer them as they pass.

"I loved to hear them play," said the former VSU Development Director Jacqueline Fraser, whose Storum Hall office wasn't far from the "parade" route the band took each afternoon. "After a hard day, the sound rejuvenated me."

When Steven Wallace was a senior, the health and physical education major and member of the VSU track team said he got a boost each time he heard the Trojan Explosion-whether at a game or as he walked across campus between classes. "The band always promotes a spirited feeling for the whole university," said Wallace, of Washington, D.C.

In 1997, a new building was completed for the University's Music Department, which wraps around the rear of a renovated Davis Hall (one of the oldest buildings on the historic 117-year-old VSU campus) at the intersection of Jackson Place and University Avenue. The new three-story building includes a band room, choir rehearsal room, recital hall, music library and numerous practice rooms, studios, classrooms and offices. The renovated Davis Hall includes a music library and collection honoring African-American music, a lecture room/opera workshop, faculty offices, conference room and lounges for study and rehearsal.

Now demonstrations and even minor practicing of march formations can be done in air conditioned comfort in the band room that seats 300 and has yard lanes marked off on the carpeting.

For many, said Imogene Draper, assistant provost and director of the Honors Program, the start of band rehearsals is the surest sign that the fall sememster is about to begin, with the changing of the leaves not far behind. "The truth is, when we hear the band, we know the energy level around here is about to rise," said Draper, whose Honors House office is directly across the street from the music building. "It's wonderful."

However, things weren't always so wonderful. Seventeen students showed up for the first day of practice when Harold J. Haughton, Sr., joined Virginia State University as band director in 1984.

The famed "Marching 110," built during the leadership of Dr. F. Nathaniel Gatling and expanded during the tutuledge of O'Neal Sanford, that he had heard so much about had dwindled. But Haughton didn't let the lack of members rattle him, even though he had just come from directing a 180-member marching band in Mississippi.

Armed with commitments from the administration, faculty and staff, Haughton channeled his resources to swell the band membership to 48 during his first year at the helm. To some, that was not enough.

"There were a lot of complaints," Haughton said. "We were constantly reminded of the legacy of what had been here before."

Yet, Haughton's first group "had a lot of heart," he said, which was a major reason he decided to hang in there, rather than throw up his hands and walk away.

Fifteen years later, the "Marching Trojan Explosion" is stepping strong. This year the band numbers 113-made up of 88 instrumentalists, 11 in the Trojan Silks flag corps, 8 Essence of Troy dancers, five "Elegance" majorettes and one drum major-George Crockett, a junior agriculture major from Mechanicsville, Virginia.

"We also have a featured twirler, Carmen Harris, a sophomore from Pennsylvania who is trained and has participated in regional and national baton competitions. She is spectacular," Haughton added.

He keeps working to get the numbers up, eyeing a goal of 128 instrumentalists and 16 alternates, in addition to the auxiliary units. "That's our plan for next year," he declared. VSU now offers 4-year band scholarships which help attract quality instrumentalists. The bank program is doing heavy recruiting, looking for a particular combination of instruments to make this dream a reality.

"Right now we think we're one of the finest groups in this area, definitely among the HBCUs. We still have a little way to go to match the talent at a Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. However, we have students who are willing to work hard and who believe they can play whatever top literature is required of a university band. I'm talking about our total band program-the marching, concert and pep bands that operate during the school year," Haughton explained.

He doesn't believe in medicrocity. "We accept too much of that, which I don't believe is necessary. I believe students will rise to whatever standard or level you expect of them. I want students to leave VSU knowing they have played top-level, challenging music and played it well. Then they can hold their heads up and talk to anybody else in the country about what they played and how they played it."

April Robinson remembered her initial reaction to the band's leadership. During her freshman year, the clarinetist from Richmond, Virginia, who was 26 at the time, valued the time and effort Haughton put in while working with the students.

"He showed great patience with me when I hadn't been in a band for seven years prior to then," Robinson said. "He has great confidence in people even when we don't have it in ourselves."

"I just believe we can be just as good as we want to be if we are willing to pay the dues," Haughton said. "My moment of truth comes when I see what happens to a student who some people have written off, and they find that they have talent and can be real good at something. Then all of a sudden their whole attitude changes toward people and toward life, because they are productive. And people who are productive don't create problems, they help improve situations. That's what I love to see happen."

The band's sound is one of its greatest assets and that quality is attracting students who just want to play in the band, even without having a scholarship, he added.

"My challenge is to build the greatest band in this area-period," said Haughton, 60. The band plays the basic foundation of challenging uptown marches as well as crowd favorites such as "Let's Groove Tonight" by Earth, Wind and Fire, "Waterfalls" by TLC and the Otis Redding hit "Respect."

During the football season, Haughton often stays beyond the 10 hours of band practice per week to create new drills for the band. The students march backwards and perform other challenging patterns which he has devised using a computer program, sometimes staying in his office until 9 or 10 p.m. to get it right.

Assistant band director James Holden, who worked with Haughton at Jackson State and came with him at the same time to Virginia State, said whatever level of support is offered to the band, Haughton does whatever it takes to accomplish his goal, often working miracles to keep the group intact.

The band's drills and arrangements have influenced other bands in the CIAA, he said. "People talk about B.B. King as the King of the blues-I would call Harold the King of marching bands," Holden added, pointing to Haughton's respected reputation among major colleges and universities across the country.

His Trojan Explosion moved to a new level recently. During the "Fifth Quarter" after the football game ends, bands from the competing schools play back and forth against each other. When the level of play was ranked this fall, VSU placed Number 4 in the nation among black college marching bands. Haughton received the CIAA Band Director of the Year award in 1998.

Among the more than 100 HBCUs, Jackson State, Florida A&M, Southern and North Carolina A&T Universities, as well as Bethune Cookman College have top marching band programs.

"You can't discount those bands," Haughton stressed. "Their programs are strong. They are big and loaded with talent...and they have big budgets, which really helps. So when our band was ranked fourth, that was quite an accomplishment. We know how to play, that's one thing."

Band members have also earned top ratings from hotels and restaurants when they travel long distances. "We take an evaluation form with us that we leave with the restaurants where we eat and hotels where we stay to evaluate how we interacted with their staff-i.e., would they invite us back or recommend that we go someplace else," he explained.

"We've gotten top ratings everywhere we have been. We dress in coats and ties when we travel. My father always told me that people who dress up act differently, and other people also respond differently when you look neat and organized.

"For example, if you walk into a restaurant that is already crowded and you're bringing in over 100 people, then when you come in orderly and can move about and mix with the crowd without a problem, that makes everybody's business better.

"This is a learning process, too. It's all about life. Learning how to act and dress in certain situations. The training process doesn't stop with the music. It goes on to demonstrate how you treat people as you talk with and respond to them."

His methods for dealing with young people probably reflect the same training passed on by his father, Rev. Gilbert Haughton. "My father was an exceptional person to me. He was a minister and he set so many standards for his children. However, he was never belligerent about it. He always gave us choices. He would ask what we thought was the best choice and he would listen to what we had to say."

Another role model was his clarinet teacher at Jackson State where he attended undergraduate school. "Dr. Dollye Robinson was my mentor and she gave me private lessons. She was one of the best organized administrators I have ever known and was an exceptional teacher."

For several years when Haughton also chaired VSU's Department of Music, his schedule was full, balancing the department chairmanship and band director duties, in addition to teaching courses in instrumental methods, conducting methods, applied music and music theory. He also directs the approximately 40-member Pep Band which performs during basketball games and the roughly 50-member Concert Band which plays during University convocations and other special events.

In his spare time, Haughton, who is married and has an adult son, conducts the Sanctuary Choir at Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg. A baritone bass who also plays the clarinet, flute and saxophone, he performs occasionally at various events on campus and in the community. He is a clarinetist with the all-community Richard Bland Wind Ensemble.

He played a flute solo with soprano faculty member, Lisa Edwards-Burrs, during the fall convocation and they will perform a joint program for the faculty recital this spring. He is also singing again during the Christmas season. On December 5, he will appear in an opera with the Richmond Symphony at the Landmark Theater in Richmond, and will perform a bass solo in The Messiah with the Petersburg Symphony.

In addition, Haughton will direct the Marching Trojan Explosion in the Richmond Ukrop's/Jaycees Christmas Parade, as well as the Petersburg Christmas Parade. Participation in these events has been called the band's pre-final exams aerobic workout!

The Trojan Explosion has earned invitations to a variety of showcase performances-giving opening and halftime performances for University of Virginia home games, appearances in the Whitney M. Young Classic at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands and the classic bowl in Savannah, Georgia, as well as the annual African American Parade and Celebration in Hartford, Connecticut.

They hope the football team wins the CIAA championship again, so the band can perform in the Pioneer Bowl in Atlanta, where the CIAA and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) champions will meet for the national playoff game. At press time, VSU was undefeated.

Although pleased with his own performances and accomplishments, Haughton is most proud of the achievements of former and current students who were selected to help make up intercollegiate bands at the national level because of their high-caliber performances. They participated in the Black Caucus band festival at the Music Educators' National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, and in the Minuteman Marching Band for the 200th anniversary of the United States held in Philadelphia.

"They measured up against students from all across the country," he said. "That reflects the quality we offer here."

Thanks to a commitment from the University's administration, led by President Eddie N. Moore, Jr., Haughton said another incentive that will attract more students to the band is the addition of new uniforms next fall to spruce up the band's look in the year 2000.

Maurice Bowles, a physical education major and band member from Petersburg submitted the winning design during his freshman year. "We have a sample of the new uniform and it is really beautiful and exciting," shared Haughton. "The manufacturer predicts our style will become the most duplicated uniform in the future, setting a new standard for the 21st century."

All eyes will focus on the Marching Trojan Explosion as they continue producing new levels of creativity and energy.