The University of Texas Longhorn Band

1905 Longhorn Band, directed by Dr. E.P. Schoch.

Chemistry professor Eugene P. Schoch founded the first band at The University of Texas in 1900. Schoch recruited 16 students and provided them with $150 in used musical instruments purchased at Jackson's Pawn Shop in downtown Austin. School pride and spirit now had a voice — The Longhorn Band. The band grew steadily over the years, and by 1917 had strutted its stuff at the Chicago World's Fair, Madison Square Garden, and the White House for President Theodore Roosevelt. The Showband of the Southwest, now led by Robert M. Carnochan, is 360 students strong whose enthusiasm is inspiring, exciting, and contagious.

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Original photo courtesy UT Center for American History; colorized by Jason Graham