Featured solo twirlers selected for Purdue ‘All-American’ Marching Band
March 2, 2015
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Purdue’s “All-American” Marching Band selected Alexa Philips, a junior in pre-veterninary medicine as its Golden Girl; Jordan Foster, a junior in communication, as its Girl in Black; and Julianna Johnson, a sophomore in speech, language and hearing sciences; and Alyssa Lyzen, a junior in accounting, as its Silver Twins during auditions on Saturday (Feb. 28). (File photo provided) |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University’s ‘All-American’ Marching Band selected its Gold Girls, Girl in Black and Silver Twins for the 2015-16 academic year during auditions Saturday (Feb. 28) at the France A. Cordova Recreational Sports Center.
Those selected include:
Golden Girl: Alexa Phillips, a junior in pre-veterinary medicine from Orlando, Florida. This will be her third year as the university’s 28th Golden Girl.
Girl in Black: Jordan Foster, a junior in communications from Attleboro, Massachusetts. This will be her third years as the Girl in Black. She also had been a Silver Twin for one year.
Silver Twins: Julianna Johnson, sophomore, speech, language and hearing sciences, from Niles, Ohio; and Alyssa Lyzen, a junior in accounting from Brecksville, Ohio. Johnson will in her third year as a Silver Twin and Lyzen in her fourth year.
The tradition of attracting the nation’s best twirlers to Purdue ignited in the early 1950s when professor emeritus Al G. Wright recruited the first Golden Girl to perform with the “All-American” Marching Band. Since then, the band has grown to now feature the Golden Girl, Girl in Black, and Silver Twins as well as the All-American Twirling Team for all of their performances.
The solo twirler positions are especially integral to the university with these positions serving not only as leaders of the band, but as ambassadors for Purdue. Soloists are selected during a rigorous audition process that assesses their skills through performances and their public relations skills through interviews.
Purdue is unique because twirlers, as well as all band members, including members of the Golden Silks Color Guard and Golduster Dance Team, must audition for positions every season. All candidates must have been admitted to Purdue in order to qualify for an audition.
With over 128 years of rich experiences treasured by students, alumni, faculty and family, Purdue Bands & Orchestras provides an opportunity for more than 700 students to begin their lifelong journey with music as performers, patrons and advocates for the arts while pursuing a non-music degree in a variety of disciplines.
Contact: Susan Xioufaridou, 765-496-6785, susanx@purdue.edu
