For Seneca graduate Angela Rubino, a lifelong passion for playing an instrument and being a band member has taken her places she never could have imagined.
Rubino began playing piano at 7 years old and went on to pick up saxophone when she was just 9.
“Having played all throughout middle school, I not only wanted to play in the band, but I wanted to be the drum major of the marching band in high school,” Rubino said.
She also wanted to be in what is considered the best band at Seneca, the jazz band.
Her musical talents and band experience with the Golden Eagles got her noticed by one of the most prolific collegiate bands in the nation.
Rubino was accepted to The Citadel in 2013 and decided upon graduation she would be moving south to pursue her dream of playing saxophone for The Regimental Band and Pipes while pursuing a dual major in chemistry and Spanish.
The Regimental Band and Pipes was founded at The Citadel in 1909. The marching band makes up one of the 21 companies of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.
The year it was founded, the band participated in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, Scotland, becoming the first military college selected for the honor.
It returned in 2010 as the only unit from the United States to appear at the Silver Jubilee of the Tattoo, and appeared again in 2015, Rubino’s sophomore year.
“I knew the band would be going to Scotland from the day I auditioned for the Citadel band,” Rubino said.
Commander Mike Alverson, the band director, confronted Rubino about the trip as a freshman and told her there was a very good chance she would get to go.
“Honestly, as taxing as the fourth class system was, the idea of getting the chance to go to Scotland for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity helped get me through knob year,” Rubino said.
Knob year is a grueling experience that The Citadel band members experience. Many are deterred from continuing with the band due to how taxing the daily routine is.
Rubino alluded to the fact that while she always wanted to be in the band, there were times when she second-guessed staying in the band.
“There were times when it got burdensome, but each season I would come back because by the time the season rolled around, I was missing the camaraderie and the fun we all have together,” Rubino said.
Preparing for the biggest show she has ever played for consisted of many long days of perfecting her craft.
She knew she would be working with professional musicians to put together a show for an audience of roughly 9,000 people every night, so she worked tirelessly. The band spent the month of August in Scotland.
Prior to that, it spent two hours a morning learning the drill for the show and three to four hours in the afternoon rehearsing and memorizing the music for a week.
The process was very demanding and required a lot of Rubino’s beloved summer vacation, but she assured it was worth it in the end, and it brought her back to her roots of why she fell in love with music in the first place.
“After a band learns the music, knows the notes and the rhythms, they can really start making music. I love when a band starts creating the peaks and valleys of the music — the louds and softs, the fasts and slows. Real music evokes feeling, and it’s one thing to make the audience feel something, but when the band sends shivers down my spine, that’s how I know the audience is feeling it, too,” she said.
Rubino still has almost three years of college left but has considered pursuing a career with the United States Centers for Disease and Control Prevention.
However, she still plans to continue playing music, even if it’s just on the side because she is so passionate about it.
“While I’m not pursuing a musical degree, I know I will continue to play even if it’s just when I’m playing for myself,” Rubino said.
