“Without the music, I don’t think Commencement would be the same,” said Emily Threinen, associate professor in the Boyer College of Music and Dance, who will conduct the band during Temple University’s main ceremony Thursday, May 16, at 10 a.m. in the Liacouras Center. “There’s something about Commencement that I find to be really beautiful in its tradition.”

In keeping with tradition, Threinen will lead the band in Temple’s alma mater and “Pomp and Circumstance.” However, she has also programmed additional compositions that she feels fits with the ceremony’s majestic theme.

“All of the repertoire has an English traditional feel to it,” she said. “So I try to find pieces that fit into that ascetic to give the ceremony that regal feel.”

Threinen, who came to Temple in 2011, believes that the band’s role during the ceremony is to evoke a sense of pride in the graduating students and their families. 

“I know whenever I hear some of these pieces I even get a little choked up, just because it reminds me of my own graduation ceremonies,” she said. “It just has a certain reminiscence of collegiality and tradition.”