The FSU Athletic Pep Band is pre­pared to lose a valu­able mem­ber as stu­dent con­duc­tor Jason Workman is going to grad­u­ate this spring.

The pep band per­forms and leads cheers at bas­ket­ball, foot­ball, hockey and vol­ley­ball games.

“We try to pro­vide a lively and fun atmos­phere while stay­ing pos­i­tive,” said Workman.

During his time as stu­dent con­duc­tor, Workman, who will be grad­u­at­ing from the biotech­nol­ogy pro­gram, has con­ducted at over 140 events and has led over 3,500 songs.

Steve Wetter, a sopho­more in Pre-pharmacy, will assume the respon­si­bil­i­ties of con­duct­ing the pep band after Workman.

Greg Beers, the asso­ciate stu­dent con­duc­tor with the pep band, said, “The key to being a good con­duc­tor is to know how to con­trol your band and be able to get them to play the way you want to. Jason was great at this and it really showed.”

Workman has been a mem­ber of the pep band since his fresh­man year and has been stu­dent con­duc­tor for the past two years. Prior to becom­ing stu­dent con­duc­tor, he served as clar­inet sec­tion leader his fresh­man year and asso­ciate stu­dent con­duc­tor his sopho­more year.

Workman says he first joined pep band because he thought it would be a good oppor­tu­nity to be a part of a sports band.

“I really thought this would be fun because I have a great love for sports and music.”

As stu­dent con­duc­tor Workman is in charge of plan­ning and con­duct­ing rehearsals twice a week. He also plans per­for­mances with the game coor­di­na­tor and the cheer­lead­ing and dance team coaches.

“This ensure[s] we all work together to put on a great show,” he said.

Workman said there are two things that he is going to miss about pep band: the cama­raderie and the music out­let for his aca­d­e­mic stress.

“This band spends so much time together that we know just about every­thing about each other,” he said. “This can lead to tense moments, but gen­er­ally, every­body gets along and enjoys the time we have together.”

Junior Drew Heath, a trom­bone player with the pep band, said, “I’ll miss how much work he put into new projects and how he always tried to make sure every­thing went as smoothly as possible.”

“The thing that I’m going to miss most about [Jason] is the atti­tude he brought to the band,” said Beers who is in his sec­ond year with the pep band. “He knew that play­ing at the games was not just about hav­ing fun, but also about performance.”

Besides serv­ing as stu­dent con­duc­tor, Workman plays clar­inet for the FSU Symphony Band, is a mem­ber of the Honors Program, and serves as pres­i­dent of Delta Nu Alpha, the Biotechnology Fraternity.

He is also a lab assis­tant in the bio­chem­istry lab and worked as a vol­un­teer lab tech­ni­cian this past summer.

Workman has been invited to con­duct a piece to be per­formed by the com­bined West Chamber Concert Band, sym­phony band, and orches­tra at Ferris’ 125 anniver­sary concert.

Looking back upon his tenure with the pep band, he said, “I feel that musi­cally, I have left a legacy. It’s not a big one, but I feel like there are a few great achieve­ments I can
hold on to.” n