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In 2015, the Kidsgrove Scouts will have a very large hornline. At the rehearsal last weekend there were more than 50 members present, and the number still seems to be growing.

The number of horn players for the Kidsgrove Scouts has more than doubled compared to last season. On Sunday there were 51 present and this number is expected to increase even further. The tubaline may become the biggest ever in a British drum & bugle corps. The hall where the rehearsal took place was almost too small to accommodate all members.

This year, the Kidsgrove Scouts became British champions and were the runners up at the European Championships. Next year the corps will travel to the United States to participate in competitions of the all-age organisation Drum Corps Associates. The new show is entitled 'The Stone Circle' and will feature music of 'Medea's Dance of Vengeance' by Samual Barber.

Spirit of 52 from Rastede - Germany has announced the theme of its new show. 'Communication' is both the title and the theme of the show.

“Communication with the audience at different levels will be an important aspect of the programme in 2015”, according to Spirit of 52, who came seventh at the DCE European Championships this year. “Every person on this planet communicates in every moment of his life, whether intentionally or unintentionally, verbally or non-verbally.”

The music programme includes music pieces from Aretha Franklin, Aaron Copland, Michael Jackson, Evanescence and Peter Tchaikovsky. The music will once again be written by the corps’ own arranger team, consisting of Björn Geveke, Jochen Ackermann, Thorsten Haake and Malte Steiner this year. The choreography of the color guard is written by Suryono Wiersma.

With this new theme, the corps and staff hope to continue to build on the successful shows of recent years and to strengthen their position in Europe.

As a result of construction works on a BASF gas pipe, a massive explosion with fatal consequences took place immediately next to the corps home of the German corps Heartliner. According to the media, a construction worker lost his life and about 30 people were hurt, some of them severely.

All of the surrounding houses are now uninhabitable and the people are stranded without a home. The Heartliner corps home is still standing after the explosion but according to the preliminary assessment of the construction management, it will not be useable any more. "At this point, we are unable to make any statements about the condition of the instruments or the interior of the corps home", says corps director Uwe Baum. "Our truck seemed to have been lucky, but at a closer look, it will most likely have to end up at the scrap yard."

"We are more than relieved that nobody of our own was hurt", Baum continues. "One of our members had just left the building a few minutes before the explosion. Yet another one was being held back an hour before and arrived 10 minutes after the explosion. Our sympathy goes out to the family of the dead worker and to the people living nearby, who have bared our rehearsals and parties all these years with composure. We also want to thank everyone from the music scene for their kind and encouraging words we received."

Next year, the Kidsgrove Scouts will bring a show called 'The Stone Circle'. The title refers to the Stonehenge monument in England, and the myths about this mysterious structure.

The subtitle of the show is 'The myths and magic of Stonehenge'. The world famous stones near the town of Amesbury are surrounded by myths. Were the stones made by giants, or did the devil himself place the stones there? The 2014 British drum corps champions are dedicating their 2015 show to this prehistoric phenomenon.

The show features music from Medea's Dance of Vengeance, Op.23a (Samuel Barber), and cosists of five parts: 'Raising the Stones', 'Summer Solstice', 'Pegan Celebration', 'Druid Chant' and 'The Sacrifice'.

'The Stone Circle' will not only be performed in Europe. The Kidsgrove Scouts are also participating in the Drum Corps Associates World Championships in Rochester, New York.

The Belgian Maarten Deschacht will be the new Front Ensemble Caption Head of the Madison Scouts. Deschacht has been active in the instructional staff of the all male corps for the past two seasons and will lead the front ensemble in 2015.

Deschacht was Junior and Senior Technician at the Madison Scouts in 2013 and 2014 respectively. His impressive international career is not limited to the DCI top corps, also World Class units at Winter Guard International belong to his achievements. Last year he was an instructor at NorthCoast Academy and this year he became Front Ensemble Caption Head and Music Ensemble Coordinator for the indoor percussion ensemble. He has also given classes at several high schools including Walled Lake Central HS.

The Belgian from Western Flanders does not limit himself to the United States. In Europe (United Kingdom, Italy, Germany) and South Africa (Field Band Foundation), he has also held various positions, from instructor to judge and adviser. In Belgium, Deschacht is known as programme coordinator and show designer of Beverly Percussion Ensemble from Beveren-Roeselare and DrumSpirit from Dadizele.

Kadoudal Drum & Bugle Corps from Quiberon is looking towards the east in 2015. The new show of the French youth corps is entitled ‘Samourai’.

The French corps, founded in 2008, has been participating in the DCE Championships since 2010. With the exception of 2013, when they entered the Premier Class, the corps has participated in the Junior Class.

With the show ‘Samourai’, Kadoudal is once again focusing on its participation at the European Championships in Kerkrade. What music pieces will feature in the new show is not yet known.

Now that all of the videos of the DCE Championships 2014 are on the DCE Video Vault, many of the videos are shared on Facebook. Haven’t shared a video yet? Do it now and win a free year's subscription to the DCE Video Vault!

The 29 competition appearances at the DCE Championships this year are now available on the DCE Video Vault. On the Facebook page of Drum Corps Europe, all of the videos can be found on the timeline. We will draw a winner from the most shared video on 18th October, who will get one year’s unlimited access to all videos on the DCE Video Vault. If the winner is already a subscriber, he or she will be reimbursed for the subscription fee.

Visit www.facebook.com/drumcorpseurope for the videos and share them on your own timeline. It is a small effort that may be rewarded!

Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps will allow males to join the colour guard for the first time next season, reports Drum Corps World. Previously, only females were allowed to participate in the guard.

Since its establishment 53 years ago, the colour guard of Pioneer has consisted exclusively of females and it was not possible for males to sign up for this section of the corps. That is about to change, says corps director Roman Blenski. According to guard caption head Seth Pearson, this step will open the door to a "larger and very entertaining colour guard section".

The first audition and rehearsal camp of the World Class drum and bugle corps from Milwaukee - Wisconsin will be on 9th to 11th January.

The DVDs of the DCE European Championships will be released later this month, both the Prelims and the Finals. Pre-order your DVDs now and be one of the first to receive your DVD set in the mail!

All performances from the DCE European Championships, both Prelims and Finals, have been recorded by four cameras in HD and superb sound quality. Three DVD sets will include the Premier Class Finals, Junior Class Finals and Premier Class Prelims.

If you order now, you can be sure that your DVDs will be in the first batch of shipping. Ordering is easy through the DCE webshop.

With a deafening bang, the European Music Games 2014 ended on Saturday night, 27th September. Were you in the stands or did you watch the webcast, and want to be on the field yourself next year? Grab your chance and go along to the open days of corps in your area!

The next few weeks are full of open days. Whether you are interested in playing a wind instrument, a percussion instrument or participating in the color guard, there is always a corps near you where you can fulfill your dream. Many corps will invite interested people to come and watch the rehearsals in the near future.

Don’t have any experience but lots of enthusiasm and perseverance? Sign up as a new member and take the internal training. Before you know it you're on the field performing and you will regret that you did not do it earlier.

The corps page contains information on all corps that have participated in the European Music Games in recent years. To search for the corps that are closest to you, go to this page.

Last Saturday, 31 performances of European corps could be seen live in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. Now you can watch the shows in HD quality on the DCE Video Vault.

Still can’t get enough of the DCE European Championships 2014? Watch all performances as often as you like, in High Definition quality on the DCE Video Vault. The performances were recorded with four cameras, so everything can be followed in detail. For only € 19.95 you get access to the Video Vault for a year and not just this year’s DCE Championships are at your disposal, but previous years as well.

Free previews are available on http://dce.videovault.eu. Through the “Join” page, you can quickly and easily take out a subscription that automatically ends after one year unless you renew your subscription. So no unexpected surprises! What’s more, when you take out a subscription you support the Video Vault team so that service can continue to exist in future.

Are you interested in traveling around Europe, judging contests for an activity you love? Drum Corps Europe is looking for new people to join its established team of judges.

The European Music Games is getting bigger and better every year, which means more judges are required to keep up with the demand! The summer season for a DCE judge begins the third weekend in May, where Judges meet for an annual weekend of training at Judges’ College. The college gives an opportunity for the fraternity to discuss changes to the manual, as well as discussing the previous year’s season and setting caption paradigms for the year ahead.  

Prospective new judges sit a ‘General Knowledge Exam’, which is based on topics taken from the DCE Competition Manual, the Judges’ Handbook and other educational papers. It is not only new faces that are put through their paces, as the established judges are also required to re-sit the exam once every three years. Lots of support is available in the lead up to taking the exam, so don’t let that put you off! 

What does judging for DCE mean to our judges? 

“Judging allows me to be involved with the success of every unit, performer and staff member, by collaborating with them through adjudicated performances.”
Mathieu Meulenaere , Visual Judge

“I enjoy being involved in an amazing activity that is growing and getting stronger every year.  It’s an activity for young and old. I’m glad to be a part of it and share my knowledge when judging.”
Marco Harder, Music Caption Manager and Music Judge

“It is an absolute pleasure for me to give back to the activity that has given me so much, through my role as a judge. Seeing the performers up close of the field – their determination, the challenges they face and the passion they exude is inspiring.”
Helen Bassett, Visual Judge

To find out more, please email judges@drumcorpseurope.org or feel free to speak to one of the DCE judges for more information.

Mark Bassett
DCE Adjudication Manager

The pinnacle of BYBA's 2014 40th Anniversary season concluded on Saturday with the BYBA National Championships held at the New Bucks Head Stadium, AFC Telford United in Telford. "The atmosphere under the floodlights made for a fantastic spectacle to round off a fantastic season", BYBA stated.

Championship saw Phantom Knights crowned as champions, with Lanesfield BB/GB taking runners up and Trinity School Showband in 3rd place, with 1st Ibstock Scouts in 4th place, Comets PE in 5th place and Halifax BB/GB in 6th place. Cadets saw a Champions tie, with both Liberty Juniors and Cadence Juniors taking the gold. In Associate Division Upton were crowned champions with Polesworth Pioneers taking runners up.

In Premier Class, East Coast Elite were crowned champions, with Revolution Show Corps taking runners up, 37th Kingswood in 3rd place, Stafford Lancers in 4th place with Cadence in 5th place, Beeches PE in 6th Place and Liberty Drum Corps in 7th place.

Although both Premier and Associate are judged by the same criteria and are both printed on 1 summary sheet, placings and caption wins are split into the separate divisions allowing both divisions to compare scores across the board.

Full recaps have been uploaded to www.byba.org.uk.

Junior corps Confetti is quitting. After 21 years, the board of the corps from Goes - The Netherlands in consultation with the parents has had to decide to dissolve the association.

After the summer break, more and more members left for various reasons. In recent years, Confetti was not large, but always achieved a membership of more than twenty. “Last year we also had to deal with kids whose membership was terminated by the parents during the season,” says Steffanie Traas from Confetti. “Because of this, we had to put our new members in the show immediately. This had a big impact on the show for the rest of the season and also within the corps itself.”

To start a new season, in addition to the fourteen members that remain, the corps would need at least ten new members. A membership recruitment drive with a few weeks of workshops did produce nine enthusiastic children, but ultimately none of them have signed up as members. It also led to trouble in getting a complete the staff team for next season. The board would like to thank Drum Corps Netherlands and Drum Corps Europe for their support.

Indoor percussion groups who want to compete with colleagues on a European level can now register for the competition of Indoor Percussion Europe. You can sign up until 1st December.

Indoor Percussion Europe presents four events for this winter. The European percussion season starts in Ireland. The date for this contest is not yet known. On the 7th of March, the Scandinavian regional will take place in Mölnlycke. The IPE European Championships will take place on Sunday the 29th of March in Wevelgem. The Individuals & Ensembles will also be held on that day.

The management of IPE says that it is looking forward to a great indoor percussion season. You can register via www.indoorpercussioneurope.org. This site also has more information about the upcoming season.

The indoor percussion ensemble European X found Tom Gasparrini willing to lead the ensemble from this year. Under Gasparrini's guidance, the drumline is working towards their participation in Winter Guard International in 2016. 

Since 2013, Gasparrini has worked as a battery instructor at the Bluecoats, where he is partly responsible for the huge success of this section within DCI in recent years. Before that, he was a snare player with corps including the Bluecoats, The Cadets and Rhythm X, the American counterpart of European X.

Normally, Gasparrini would have played an important role within the staff of Rhythm X next season, but because of the collaboration between European X and Rhythm X and due to the serious plan to participate in WGI in 2016, European X is granted the benefit of his knowledge and experience this year.

Along with Andrew Markworth (Rhythm X and Crossmen), Gasparrini is writing the music for the upcoming production. He will start working at European X full-time from 12th January. Mike Bishop (Carolina Crown and Crossmen) continues to coordinate the front ensemble.

After a thrilling final, The Company are the European champions. Although the British corps was behind Jubal and Kidsgrove Scouts in the Prelims, in the evening it overtook its competitors. With 89.95 points, the corps won the title.

The Finals flew by. It was unprecedented to see how the entire top ten went the extra mile. Such intensity, such power and so much emotion. When it was time for the top three, which finished within two tenths of each other in the Prelims, the stadium was sizzling with excitement.

And all three corps brought another top show. But The Company now drew the longest straw (89.95) and placed Kidsgrove Scouts (89.10) and Jubal (87.85) slightly further behind.

1. The Company (89,95)
2. Kidsgrove Scouts (89,10)
3. Jubal (87,85)
4. Juliana (84,55)
5. Beatrix (82,85)
6. Black Knights (80,50)
7. Starriders (76,30)
8. Spirit of 52 (73,50)
9. The Vikings (69,60)
10. Heartliner (68,00)

Caption Awards: High Visual: Jubal, High Auxiliary: Beatrix, High Percussion: The Company, High Field Music: The Company, High Music: The Company, High Effect: The Company & Kidsgrove Scouts, High Front Ensemble: The Company.

Jong Jubal are the European champions in the Junior Class. The corps from Dordrecht once again won the title in Kerkrade with a strong show (83.20). Johan Friso came second (81.90) and Jong Beatrix came third (78.30). The captions were evenly distributed.

The youth are the future. And how! All corps in the Junior Class made ​​it into a sizzling final. The audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves. What wonderful shows. Congratulations to all participants.

Junior Class Finals;

1.Jong Jubal (83,20)
2. Johan Friso (81,90)
3. Jong Beatrix (78,30)
4. Jong-Holland Junioren (70,05)
5. Kadoudal (67,90)
6. Confetti (65,70)


The high level of all corps was reflected in the Caption Awards, which were evenly distributed between the top three corps. High Visual: Jong Jubal, High Auxiliary: Jong Beatrix, High Percussion: Johan Friso, High Field Music: Johan Friso, High Music: Johan Friso, High Effect: Jong Jubal, Front Ensemble: Jong Beatrix.

It’s D(CE) Day and how! The tension in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium is unprecedented, after the thrilling result of the Prelims. The top three are only two-tenths away from each other, with Kidsgrove Scouts as the leader for now.

Kidsgrove Scouts is in the lead after the Prelims with 87.00 points. But Jubal (86.80) and The Company (86.57) are not far behind. The three corps brought fantastic shows, which received standing ovations and gave the audience goosebumps.

The DCE European Championships have been a true drum corps party. The sun is shining, the level of all corps is unprecedented and the stand is already nicely filled. What a day!

1. Kidsgrove Scouts (87,00)
2. Jubal (86,80)
3. The Company (86,75)
4. Juliana (83,55)
5. Beatrix (81,60)
6. Black Knights (80,70)
7. Starriders (76,00)
8. Spirit of 52 (72,20)
9. The Vikings (67,75)
10. Heartliner (67,55)
11. Wölper Löwen (61,05)
12. Nexus (60,05)
13. Con Spirito (58,60)

It is Saturday the 27th of September: D(CE) Day! The day that all of drum corps loving Europe looks forward to. The day of the DCE European Championships in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. Don’t have a ticket? Come over anyway, because you do not want to miss this!

The conclusion of the European drum corps season promises to be a titanic struggle, both in the Premier Class and in Junior Class. In the Premier Class, 13 corps will be competing for the coveted title, including reigning European champions and brand new Dutch champions Jubal, English champions Kidsgrove Scouts, German champions Starriders and Irish champions The Vikings. In the Junior Class, consisting of 6 corps, the French Kadoudal will want to make things difficult for the Dutch top corps.

The DCE European Championships are guaranteed to be a full day out. At 10 am we will start the Prelims. At 3 pm it's time for the Junior Class Finals and at 6:30 pm the 10 best corps from the Premier Class will start the Finals. If you don’t have the patience to sit in the stands all day, you will not get bored. There are plenty of places to go in and around the stadium for something to eat or drink.

In front of the stadium there will once again be an extensive marketplace. Have a nice wander around the stalls of sponsors Pearl/Adams, Marchingshop.com, Majestic, Rotex, Guard Equipment and MMC. Several corps also have a stall. At the stalls of Jubal, Beatrix and The Company, real fans can buy their merchandise. “It’s nice to see that there is so much activity at the marketplace,” says Financial Manager Hans Wansink from DCE. “This is great for DCE, for the exhibitors and for visitors.”

Last but not least, on the square, there will of course be a DCE stall as well. We are happy to answer questions there or you can come to us to pick up the tickets you have ordered. And for those who do not have a ticket yet, we will be selling tickets here from 9:30 am, we look forward to seeing you!