This year the Huskie Marching Band, Pep Band and University Band will undergo a change in direction.

Tom Bough has been hired as the new director of athletic bands and has big plans for the department.

A professional musician, Bough has 14 years of teaching experience under his belt. He was the athletic band director at Southern Illinois University for six years and taught music at Westwood High School in Mesa, Ariz. for seven years.

“It’s a privilege and honor to be invited to join a faculty like this,” Bough said.

Bough will make numerous changes to this year’s marching band, such as implementing more Latin-jazz and accentuated body movements into the band’s performances. Bough also has a wide array of contemporary music planned for this season, including Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas’ song “Smooth” and tracks from Green Day and Kelly Clarkson.

The number of band members has tripled to 170 since last year, and Bough attributes this to last semester’s band members who actively pursued new recruits at orientation sessions this summer. Bough hopes to see even more band members recruited in the next couple of weeks.

Bough is replacing Lawrence Stoffel, the director of Huskie Bands for the 2003-04 school year. Margarite Ortega was interim director of Huskie Bands last school year and has since left NIU.

Paul Bauer, director of the School of Music, worked in conjunction with several other department heads to find a new director. A few dozen band members also were involved with the hiring process and provided feedback on each of the candidates.

Bauer said he and the committee were looking for someone who could be a successful recruiter and someone who “demonstrated understanding of the special role that athletic bands play in representing the university in a positive fashion.”

The students drew him to NIU and make his job rewarding, Bough said. He complimented the individual band members for their “incredible dedication.”

The Huskie Marching Band will perform at the first home football game Sept. 17.