More than 3,000 high school students from 38 bands joined the Pride of Arizona marching band Saturday at the 53rd annual Glassman Foundation UA Band Day.

The students displayed their talent in front of judges and a crowd of more than 10,000 people.

“”UA Band Day is an amazing opportunity to reach out to high school bands throughout the region and provide a massive venue for music, competition and fun,”” said David Sussman, a psychology senior and president of the national honorary band fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi.

Kappa Kappa Psi, its sister sorority, Tau Beta Sigma, and the UA Band Department organized UA band day.

“”We view Band Day as a major recruiting project for the Pride of Arizona marching band,”” said Karly Mitchell, a senior majoring in English and president of Tau Beta Sigma.

All of the money earned from the event via spectator entry fees will benefit the band department.

Band Day is a huge event, said Christopher Constantine, a music graduate student. Constantine could not provide the exact amount the event raised.

Despite the revenue it brings in, the UA School of Music was considering moving Band Day from Arizona Stadium to Tucson Electric Park because of increasing costs to host the event.

The Glassman Foundation, the event’s title sponsor, kept the program at Arizona Stadium by providing additional funding, said Rodney Glassman, founder of the Glassman Foundation and a second-year law student.

The Glassman Foundation, founded in 2002, assists almost 50 non-profit organizations that benefit children in Tucson each year, and it will sponsor band day again next year.

“”The mission of the Glassman Foundation is to make Tucson a better place for kids by creating experiences in the areas of arts, recreation and education,”” Glassman said.

Band Day is also an outlet for the Pride of Arizona to perform for a “”really excited, knowledgeable audience,”” said Jay Rees, director of the band.

Rees said the Pride of Arizona’s 253 members stood out at this year’s event not only because they comprised the sole college band at the event, but because this year’s show was built around the music of the alternative rock group Radiohead.

“”We try to be really unique here,”” Rees said. “”The music has a lot of character to it. I thought it would be a neat thing to try to bring that to life in a different venue.””

The band puts roughly 13 hours a week into perfecting its show, which is quite complex, Rees said.

The Pride of Arizona uses movement and complex motion to enhance the meaning of the music, he added.

“”The motion is more important than the picture you land in,”” he said. “”In terms of what we do, we’re considered one of the best in the country.””