Jacob Arche - Marching Illini

MM, Athletic Bands Teaching Assistant

Jacob Arche is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Music Education with Licensure from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and will serve as a graduate teaching assistant for the Illinois Athletic Bands. Originally from Sterling Heights, Michigan, Jacob earned his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Minor in Music from the University of Michigan in 2018. While at Michigan, Jacob was involved in the University Band, Michigan Basketball Band, and Michigan Marching Band where he was a pregame and halftime rank leader of the Horn section for three years. After graduating, Jacob worked at Michigan Medicine as a technician in the Dlugosz Lab, a research lab studying skin cancers, until 2022. Jacob worked on the Merkel Cell Carcinoma project under the supervision of Dr. Monique Verhaegen. He continued playing music as a member of the Michigan Alumni Pep Band and Concert Band.

Jacob has spent the last decade teaching athletic bands and leadership. Since 2014, Jacob has been an instructional staff member at Smith Walbridge Clinics under the supervision of Professor Barry Houser. There, Jacob directs 500+ high school and college drum majors over the course of two weeks in the areas of pedagogy, conducting, marching band fundamentals, and showmanship. As senior staff, he supervises a team of instructors by refining their lesson planning, time management, teaching fundamentals, and teaching styles. Jacob also works for his alma mater at Sterling Heights High School where he established and leads the all-day student leadership retreat for the marching band and served on its band camp staff as a visual coordinator.

Jacob is excited to be pursuing his passion in music education at UIUC. He believes that educators not only have the important task of teaching their respective subject matter, but also intangible life lessons, and wants to provide that for the next generation of students. In addition to playing Horn under the guidance of Bernhard Scully, he is eager to work with the Marching Illini and the rest of the athletic bands. Many of the music educators that inspire him most are products of UIUC, so he is thrilled to be following in their footsteps.