Scattered crowds were ushered into their seats in the Musical Arts Center. As attendees walked in, an usher handed them a program, as is expected when attending a concert at the Jacobs School of Music. But as audience members walked closer to their seats, another piece of paper was placed into their hands. This one was sturdier and larger than the thin first program. It was sheet music for one of the songs performed that evening. The man holding the stack simply said one thing when responding to inquisitive attendees.
“It’s the world premiere of the Jacobs fight song, please enjoy.”
It all started with a luncheon in August 2024. The guest list was quite exclusive, with some of the highest-ranking faculty at IU attending. The deans met along with others, like members of the provost’s office. Abra Bush, Jacobs School of Music David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial dean, attended and was approached by Dean of the Kelley School of Business Ash Soni. Bush said Soni first inspired the music school’s desire for a fight song when he asked if they had one, because Kelley did — the department of operations and decision making has had its own since the 1970s.
Bush said she told Soni she didn’t know if the music school did much fighting, but the dean gave her a proposition.
“So, he said, ‘Hey Abra, how about a friendly wager?’ Bush said. “He said, ‘How about if I perform our fight song in the provost budget conference in March, and you do a Jacobs fight song in the provost budget conference in March?’”
Bush, who described herself as a competitive person, agreed to the friendly competition.
“The thing you also have to understand is that musicians by nature are actually incredibly competitive beasts,” Bush said. “We're competitive with ourselves, and we're competitive with each other, and to get to a place like Jacobs, whether you're a student or a faculty member or a dean, you're really competitive. So, I set out to make sure that the Jacobs School of Music had a fight song.”
With this goal in mind, Bush reached out to Alain Barker, the music school’s director of music entrepreneurship and career development, to work on the project. Barker put together a call for a composer who was either within the music school community or an alumnus to compete to write a fight song.
Ari Fisher, who got his bachelor’s in 2014 and his master’s in 2018 from the music school, ultimately won the competition. Fisher, who works professionally as a composer, entered the competition after his wife told him about it.
“I reached out to see if I was able to enter,” Fisher said. “Some days went by, and Alain Barker wrote back to see if I'm still interested in doing this, and I said ‘Yeah,’ but then I realized this was the day of the deadline, so I wrote it in four hours and submitted it.”
The Symphonic Band performed Fisher’s piece, “Sound Off the Carillon,” during the “Forward/Still” concert Tuesday. In addition to the fight song, the band performed five other wind pieces.
Prior to Symphonic Band’s performance, the music school’s Concert Band also performed, showcasing three songs, including the titular piece “Forward/Still,” which was composed by Omar Thomas.
Master’s student Jonathan Elmore sung “Sound Off the Carillon” before the audience was encouraged to join in with the sheet music they were handed earlier in the evening. Freshman Sadie Lotts performed earlier in the evening with Concert Band as a trumpet player, before participating in the fight song as an audience member.
“I really liked how it talked about playing every score and kind of shows just like how many ensembles we have, just, like, how much we delve in the music, it's just something that's unique to Jacobs,” Lotts said.
After the conclusion of the concert, performers and audience members mingled in the lobby of the MAC. Barker approached Fisher and asked him to sign a few copies of sheet music.
“When there is a new work and a new composition, it's always good to get the composer to mark the moment with the signature,” Barker said. “We're thrilled to have Ari with us here. It's just a big day for the Jacobs School of Music. It's our fight song. Never in the history of the Jacobs School of Music, more than 100 years old, have we had our own fight song, and now we have one.”
