The Soundtrack of Skyhawk Sports

Stonehill College introduces new pep band to help rev up fans at athletic events.

by the Office of Communications and Media Relations
September 10, 2024
Members of the Screeching Skyhawk Athletic Band pose with their instruments in front of Cushing-Martin Hall. (Photo Credit: Bree Smith '27)

Since Stonehill College announced its transition to a Division I athletic conference, the institution has not only increased its focus on enhancing student-athletes' experiences, but also those of student-musicians. Comprised of those taking Adjunct Professor of Music Mathew Visconti’s “Athletic Band” course, the new Screeching Skyhawk Athletic Band was recently introduced to not only get spectators on their feet and cheering at games, but also to provide worthwhile performance opportunities for instrumentalists on campus.

Last season, the group performed at home basketball games and off-campus ice hockey competitions. In the future, the band intends to support even more athletic teams at Stonehill.

Joshua Moniz ’26, a computer science major in the College's Engineering 3+2 program, plays the saxophone for the pep band. He notes that performing for the Skyhawks and their fans represents the culmination of a long musical journey for him.

“I started playing during the summer before the fifth grade,” said Moniz, who hails from Dartmouth, Massachusetts. “I’ve been doing this for 11 years now and it’s nice to share my music with the Stonehill community.”

As the group’s inaugural members, Moniz and his bandmates have played an important role in building this new musical program from the ground up. Through this process, their professor has enabled them to take ownership of the experience.

“The pep band is very student-driven,” Moniz said. “Dr. Visconti is really great about taking our input in terms of what songs we want to play.”

There’s truly nothing like the high-energy atmosphere of playing at a sports game.

Since joining the athletic band, Moniz has appreciated the opportunity to explore a range of musical genres, from class rock and funk to R&B and stadium anthems.

“My favorite thing to play with the pep band is ‘25 or 6 to 4,’ which was written by Robert Lamm, a member of Chicago,” Moniz said. “I just love that song. It’s loud. It’s fast. It’s so much fun.”

Loud, fast and fun are three qualities that lend themselves well to the atmosphere of Stonehill’s athletic events, which offer student great opportunities to build connections with others, whether they’re watching a game or playing in it.

“Stonehill is so tight knit, so it’s been easy to forge bonds with my bandmates,” he said. “Every night before rehearsal, we have what we like to call ‘family dinner.’ It’s things like that that make being part of pep band truly special.”

Besides the fact that it allows students to create new friendships, Moniz believes the pep band is great because it is relatively accessible.

“Though having some background in music is certainly important, we have players from different levels of experience,” he said. 

The range of instruments played by members of the band also varies. 

“We have people playing traditional brass instruments, but we also have others playing things like bass guitar, which you wouldn’t usually associate with a pep band,” Moniz said.

Regardless of students’ instrumental experience, Moniz hopes all interested in joining will choose to share their talents with the Stonehill community and have fun while doing it.

“There’s truly nothing like the high-energy atmosphere of playing at a sports game,” he said. 

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