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AMERICAN FORK — The BYU marching band is composed of 225 musicians — three of whom are sisters, all marching to the beat of the same drumline.
Emily, Sarah and Megan Rogers grew up in a family who loved all things marching band. Their parents, Tracy and Sherri Rogers both played in the BYU marching band — as, it seems, the blue bloodline beat effortlessly through their veins.
But it wasn't just BYU blue that made its way through the Rogers family. Tracy Rogers got his start playing the trumpet for the nationally recognized American Fork High School marching band, where the predominant color is red. And, as the story goes, Tracy and Sherri Rogers raised their own children in American Fork, thus building a family of musicians who would continue the marching band tradition.
"There's always been a love for music in our family, and we just so happened to land in American Fork," Sherri Rogers said. "We didn't buy our house here because of the band, and our girls were little when we moved here, so we weren't thinking about high school band at that time, but we always had a love for music and they each chose an instrument and they just kind of got excited about band on their own."
According to Sherri Rogers, what makes having her three daughters participate in the BYU marching band together such a special thing, is that this is actually the first time they have played in a band together. Due to them each being two years apart, none of them played at American Fork High School together. A special set of circumstances — both by chance and by choice — has made it possible for the three sisters to have this collegiate musical experience together.
"When they each decided to march in the band at BYU, they were never all able to do it together until Sarah, the middle one got back from a mission in July, and the youngest, Megan, just got her mission call and she decided to go an extra semester before her mission so that they could all three do it together," Sherri Rogers explained. "Megan kind of made this possible by delaying her mission for a semester. She'll leave on her mission in February."
Building a family bond
Emily Rogers, the eldest sister who is a junior drum major, said that the experience has strengthened their bond as sisters.
"It is such a blast to participate together in something that we have all come to love over the years," Emily Rogers told KSL.com. "This has been such a special time for us and has really strengthened our bond and love for each other. I love my sisters, and I love seeing them at rehearsal three times a week."
Sarah Rogers, who is a sophomore French horn player, said that she is taking time to enjoy the experience.
"It's fun to do something we all love to do, together," she said. "This hasn't happened before, so I'm just soaking it all in while we have it."
The youngest of the three, Megan Rogers, who is also a sophomore and plays the saxophone, said being in the band with her sisters has strengthened her love for them and her joy as a musician.
I love my sisters, and I love seeing them at rehearsal three times a week.
–Emily Rogers
"It's crazy how different the experience can be when you have the right people, especially my sisters in this case who I am so close to," Megan Rogers said. "Band has always been so wonderful, but doing it with the people I've loved my whole life has changed my view on it and made me even more grateful for them."
Sherri Rogers said the family has had season tickets to BYU football since her children were little and having her daughters play in the band together at the football games has made the experience something the whole family can enjoy.
"It's been a great bonding experience for not just the three girls, but our whole family," Sherri Rogers said. "It's just been a really cool thing for our family and especially where we just love band and football so much. We have had BYU football season tickets their entire lives, so they grew up going to the games and they love BYU!"
The sisters have two more season games at which they will perform, including the football game Friday, Oct. 28, against East Carolina and one Nov. 19 versus Utah Tech.
