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Drum Corps United Kingdom has announced the 2015 season shows. There will be four regional contests taking place between mid June and early September.

This year the second contest of the season is moving to a Saturday afternoon/evening event as interest has been expressed from corps in mainland Europe to attend a show in the UK and this weekend was highlighted as the most suitable. More information on this will be available later in the new year.The contests for 2015 are:

Sunday 14th June - Bradford, West Yorkshire
Saturday 4th July - Woking FC, Woking, Surrey (afternoon/evening event)
Sunday 19th July - Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium, Leicester
Sunday 6th Sept - Averley FC, Averley, Thurrock, Essex

The DCUK British Drum Corps Championships will be returning to the Select Security Stadium in Widnes on Saturday 19th September. Registrations for the 2015 season open at 10am on Wednesday 3rd December as DCUK enters it's 36th season as the home of British Drum Corps.

Thurrock Marching Brass has announced their 2015 Summer Corps show entitled 'Leo'.  This program follows the journey of young cub Leo as he grows into Lion-hood with all the challenges that brings, as well as the fun and laughter along the way too.

The music of the programme is arranged by World Record holding composer and arranger Reece Crisp. The first act is 'Birth- Born to be wild': Leo is born, with music from 'Born to be Wild', written by Mars Bonfie, as performed by Steppen Wolf. Act 2 is 'Playful Cubs -  Hakuna Matata' (No Worries). Leo plays and frolics and gets captured, using music written by Elton John and Tim Rice.

Act 3 follows with 'Restrained - Born Free' (ballad). After being caged, Leo sets about his escape to the timeless classic 'Born Free', written by John Barry and Don Black. The last act is 'The escape - I’m Free'. Written by Pete Townsend ('The Who').

Speaking of the program, Thurrock Marching Brass’ corps director, Ken Mansfield comments: "This is going to be a really challenging year as we start to push our talented members forward and develop on the very enjoyable and successful 2014 season. With new levels of musical arrangements by Reece, and more challenging emotions and visual compositions lined up I know that each and every member will be having a ball with this one, as will all of us involved in creating and teaching the program to them."

Thurrock Marching Brass would also like to confirm that they have registered their interest to compete at the 2015 Drum Corps Europe Championships in Kerkrade - The Netherlands in Junior Class, which marks yet another positive step forwards for this young talented group.

Adding to the above, Ken says "We are all about giving our member base the very best experiences possible, and so we have registered our interest to compete at the DCE Championships for 2015. Taking these talented kids to Holland will bring its own challenges, not least cost, but with a firm and solid support structure here at Thurrock Marching Brass, I am extremely excited at the prospect of giving our youngsters an experience of a lifetime by letting them compete on the same field as the best Junior Class Drum Corps in Europe. Winning isn’t our ultimate goal, but I just know that everyone involved will be working hard to do the great name of Thurrock Marching Brass proud as they have always done, and so for us, the experience for them all is the single most important aspect of this trip."

Jubal has announced their 2015 production. It s called 'Beyond...'. "We, as human beings, have always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible."

Jubal explains the theme as follows: "As brave souls we travel into the heavens to explore the corners of our universe. Driven by curiosity we dare to aim higher and we reach for the stars to make the unknown known. These moments are our proudest achievements. But we’ve barely begun. Our greatest accomplishments are not behind us, because our destiny lies above us. And to find our destiny, we have to go beyond everything we know and beyond everything we can imagine."

Leading designers will be Ronald Venderbos, Harm Kieboom, Frank Vernes and Justin Coughlin for music, and Frank Wienen, Nilanthi Baas and Ruben Lourens for visual.

DCUK, BYBA and TYMBA have formed the UK Marching Band Alliance, a partnership between the three organisations. It is an agreement to work together where appropriate to help each other and their members.

For the first time, the leaders of Britain's major marching band organisations have come together to talk about their groups and look at where they have common ground going forward.

During the meeting in Burton-on-Trent Drum Corps United Kingdom, British Youth Band Association and the Traditional Youth Marching Bands Association outlined to each other the backgrounds of their associations, talked about their recent successes and also discussed the challenges they face.

Paul Cartwright, Chair of BYBA said: "What became clear was that although our individual organisations are very different, there are things we can do together." DCUK's Alan Thompson and Chair of MPA:UK added: "Traditional, drum corps or show band, learning music and helping our members achieve their full potential is behind everything that we do."

TYMBA Chairman Carl Nelson explains "This isn't about changing what is at the heart of our individual organisations, this is about working together on certain things to offer more: more training, fundraising opportunities and more ways to tell people about the great things that we're doing."

The UK Marching Band Alliance have launched a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/UKMarchingBands) and a Twitter account (@UKMarchingBands).

The Madison Scouts will march in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade today. The corps has hundreds of members from all over the world, also from Europe.

The 426 members of the Madison Scouts - Corps of Brothers, aged 15-75, met in person for the first time Tuesday afternoon at Rockland Community College, approximately 35 miles north of Manhattan, where the corps will step off before millions for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Check-in began at noon, where alumni and current members—many wearing their dark green corps jackets—hugged and cracked jokes. There had been one rehearsal in June at the Drums on Parade show in Middleton - Wisconsin, but most would be playing and spinning with the group for the very first time.

Since it was announced last year, Madison Scouts all over the world have been preparing. The internet played a big part connecting more than 400 members to each other and the music. When the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps marches for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it will be their largest audience in their history.

Southwind Drum & Bugle Corps returns to the competition of Drum Corps International. The corps was inactive for many years, but in 2014 the corps entered the SoundSport activity.

Southwind has been a DCI competitor for many years. Their strongest season was 2000 when they ended in 13th place in the Semi Finals. The corps from Mobile - Alabama had to withdraw after the 2007 seson and went inactive until this year when they entered the SoundSport activity. SoundSport is a relatively new activity created by DCI for small groups and ensembles.

The corps has announced that they will return to competition for the 2015 season as an Open Class junior corps. Corps director and programme director is Greg Gumina. The first audition camp will be held on 13th and 14th December.

Familiar cities, longstanding events and the return of a number of well-known venues will highlight the 43rd annual Drum Corps International Tour. Kicking off on 17th June, 58 drum corps will travel the country to compete in 105 events in 37 states, before the 53-day summer tour concludes at the DCI World Championships in Indianapolis this August.

“The location of the World Championships in Indianapolis as an annual event has provided tremendous opportunities to achieve stability in the scheduling process across the entire DCI Tour”, DCI Executive Director and CEO Dan Acheson said. “For both the performing drum corps and their fans, knowing what to expect assists with cost-savings and travel planning, from supermarket locations for the food service teams to housing and rehearsal locations for the performers to favorite restaurants and hotels for families, friends and fans.”

Drum corps fans can watch the opening event of 2015 live from Lucas Oil Stadium or in movie theaters across the United States. As it did in 2014, the Drum Corps International Tour will kick off in the same city it will end, with a lineup of the Blue Stars, Bluecoats, Cadets, Carolina Crown, Cavaliers and Madison Scouts competing in Indianapolis on Wednesday, 17th June. Adding to the excitement of opening night, the 'DCI Tour Premiere' will be staged in Lucas Oil Stadium and will be broadcast live for the very first time in movie theaters across the country.

The following weekend will include stops in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, adding the Boston Crusaders, Crossmen and Troopers to the lineup of corps from opening night. Competition on the West Coast will get underway on June 19 in Clovis, California, with the longstanding DCI West event returning to Stanford Stadium on Saturday, 20th June.

From Europe, the Dutch based Jubal Drum & Bugle Corps will compete in the DCI competition this summer.

Drum Corps International has launched SoundSport virtual performance events. With these events, SoundSport teams will be able to spotlight their unique talents and creativity online.

Via an online portal, participants will receive input from nationally-recognised performing arts education professionals and feedback to help them maximize their ensemble’s performance strengths, while refining areas of opportunity to create high-achieving, highly-entertaining performances.

As part of the virtual adjudication process, teams will receive audio commentary on their performance in addition to receiving an official SoundSport achievement ranking. "Creation of a virtual performance option has been one of our goals since we first conceptualized SoundSport" said John DeNovi, director of business development for Drum Corps International. "These Virtual Performance Events give our growing number of international teams the opportunity to have their efforts judged and rewarded even if they are unable to attend a live event."

Through this unique virtual opportunity, SoundSport teams can work to refine their programs while eliminating transportation costs for ensembles, while also giving them more time to focus on achieving their personal best.

Dana Duursma, member of the front ensemble at Showband Marum in the north of the Netherlands, plans to join The Company from Nottingham in 2016. She will spare no expense or effort to achieve her dream.

18 year old Duursma wants to march with The Company because she believes that the corps makes great shows, its members are highly motivated to achieve the best results and she would like to march in a top corps. “I saw The Company for the first time in 2012,” said Duursma when asked why she has chosen a corps so far from home. “The shows of this corps really appeal to me.”

The musician from Marum went to the open rehearsal of The Company early this month, together with her mother. Despite the long return journey from Marum to Nottingham, taking about 28 hours, and the costs she incurred, she thought that it was more than worth it. She received a warm welcome, and there was a great atmosphere. “When I arrived on Friday evening, my mum and I were met with hugs and our arrival was great. We felt welcome and right at home in the group. I felt very comfortable at The Company. All of the members are friendly and very helpful.”

She cannot yet fully participate in the corps of the current European champion in the coming year because has her school exams, so she is aiming for 2016. In the week before the DCE Championships, she will go to the permanent training location in Vorst - Belgium, and she will probably be one of the extra performers in the show of The Company during the European Championships in Kerkrade. Duursma can’t say much about what the show of The Company will look like this year. “But it is a very different show compared to last year.”

yMe Indoor Percussion from Carnate will welcome Rob Ferguson and Thomas Sparling from Matrix Percussion in their Design Team for the 2015 season.

For their second year of life, yMe Indoor Percussion will work on enhancing the level of their production. Rob Ferguson is the new music composer and Thomas Sparling is the new drill designer for the indoor percussion group from Italy.

"From Matrix Percussion, bringing all their experience and passion”, as written on their Facebook page, the group welcomes Ferguson and Sparling in the yMe 2015 design team. “Incredibly thrilled and honored to have you both with us.”

The yMe 2015 production is not yet announced, but news about it is expected soon. The group has plans to participate in Indoor Percussion Europe and Color Guard Netherlands again.

Marching bands still look and act like they did a century ago. Sports columnist Billy Reed from KyForward.com believes that bands need to change with the times.

"We have seen all sorts of changes in golf and tennis fashion. We have seen changes in cheerleader and dance-team fashion. In fact, we have seen fashion changes everywhere. But not marching bands. Today’s marching bands look much as they did when Red Grange was running wild for Illinois in the 1920s."

Columnist Billy Reed believes that marching bands are old fashioned and need to 'upgrade'. Not only in regard to the uniforms. "Look at the language of band world. The conductor is known as the 'drum major'. I wonder if that means the tuba players are sergeants. I think those titles and roles could use a makeover, too."

"If you go to a high school or college game this weekend, check out the band and you’ll see what I mean. Only on marching bands can you see feather plumes, gauntlets, sashes, capes, white gloves, and even spats. Yes! Spats!"

You can read the full column here.

Drum Corps Europe receives a lot of questions in regard to participating in the DCE European Championships. It seems there are several myths about this. In this article, we will bust five of these myths.

Myth 1 - The DCE European Championships are an invitational event. Only corps that receive an invitation can enter.
This is not true. Corps can register until the 30th of November. If the number of registered corps on that date is 22 or less, then all of the corps will place automatically. In the event that there are more than 22 entries, DCE will use the 'wildcard' system as described in the Terms & Conditions.

Myth 2 - If a corps takes part in the DCE European Championships, DCE will provide no support for accommodation.
Although corps are responsible for finding an accommodation during the Championships weekend, DCE can help in finding a venue, and forward contact details of scouting accommodations.

Myth 3 - Only top corps can enter the DCE European Championships.
Nope. All corps can register for the DCE European Championships, regardless of their score or ranking.

Myth 4 - Only 'real' drum corps can enter the DCE European Championships.
DCE accommodates all corps regardless of their instrumentation. All instruments are allowed. However the DCE judging system can only deal with front facing shows, as all Effect and Ensemble judges are are in the front stand.

Myth 5 - The contest rules of DCE are completely different.
Not true. Drum Corps Europe uses the rules from the DCE Competition Manual. These are virtually the same as all other events of the European Music Games (IMBA, DCUK, DCN, German Open and Rasteder Musiktage). No weird rules. :-)

Interested in taking part? Register now on our registration page. Any questions? Don't hesitate to ask (info@drumcorpseurope.org).

The Black Knights Drum & Bugle Corps from Gravesend has announced their 2015 show. The production is entitled 'London Calling'.

The Black Knights present four movements representing four unique perspectives of their nation's capital. Returning to a tried and tested formula and one that developed the corps' calling card of crowd pleasing productions, the corps will be using a wide selection of popular music including music by Emeli Sandé and The Jam as well as music from West End productions and draw visual inspiration from the wealth of imagery that London provides.

Spots are available in all sections, those who are interested are invited to contact the Black Knights for more information.

Juliana Drum & Bugle Corps from Middelburg - The Netherlands has announced the new show. The corps' 2015 programme will have the theme 'Romeo & Juliet'.

The most tragic love story of all times will be performed by Juliana in a show entitled 'Romeo & Juliet. A Pair of Star-Crossed Lovers'. From the first time they, the masquerade ball, the fight and the tragix ending: all iconic moments from William Shakespeare's pieces will be featured.

The show will not only be performed on the contest fields, but possibly also in the country where the story takes place: Italy. Juliana is planning an Italian tour in 2015, like they did in 2011 and 2013. Details about the tour will be revealed later.

Plans are announced for the launch of DCX: The Drum Corps Experience online museum, showcasing the evolution history of the drum and bugle corps movement.

In March of 2009, an official collaboration was established by Drum Corps International, Drum Corps Associates, the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, Drum Corps World and others. A group of volunteers spanning all of the participating entities began work 'behind the scenes' to create opportunities to locate and preserve historical records and artifacts, photographs, video and film archives, audio recordings, uniforms, ephemera and other memorabilia illustrating the history of the drum and bugle corps activity.

A secure repository for donations and physical collections has been established and the first wave of a massive digitization project is taking place, with thousands of donated documents and publications along with tens of thousands of donated photographs currently in the process of being professionally scanned and methodically organised.

Phase one of the online museum project will include the creation of 'virtual galleries' which trace the evolution of the field drum and military bugle from their battlefield roots to the instruments being used by modern-day performance ensembles. Additional galleries are in planning stages, with the long-range goal of capturing the history of this unique activity from every angle, creating a vast online browsing and research platform for marching music enthusiasts around the world. (Text: dci.org)

The Kidsgrove Scouts have decided to increase the number of marching positions available for the 2015 corps. The maximum is 128 members.

When the Kidsgrove Scouts tour the USA next year, to ultimately compete in the DCA World Championships, the maximum number of members is 128. In the last few weeks the corps has seen huge interest, so they have to cap the total marching positions at 62 brass, 30 percussion and 36 guard.

Some sections are already full, auditions are taking place in others. There are a few positions still available, but they are filling up fast. The first camp is this coming weekend, 8th-9th November at Chesterton Community Sports College in Stoke-on-Trent.

More information can be found at www.kidsgrovescouts.com.

The DVDs of the DCE European Championships 2014 are almost finished and will be shipped in the first half of November. Drum Corps Europe will produce DVDs of the Finals as well as the Prelims.

It is expected that the master copies of the DVD will be ready next week. All the DVDs should be shipped in the second week of November. Since last year, not only the Premier Class Finals and Junior Class Finals are released on DVD, but also the Premier Class Prelims. There will therefore be three DVD sets available for order from the DCE store. Not ordered your DVD yet? Do it here and be one of the first to receive the DVD!

You can use the DVD to experience the great show performances and the atmosphere of the DCE Championships 2014 again, both through a multiple camera edit and a high camera angle. What’s more, when you purchase the DVD, you also support European drum corps activity. The revenue is used to maintain the high quality of the video productions, and to improve these further.

Since last year, the production of the DVD has been in the hands of The Video Vault, consisting of 20 volunteers with a passion for drum corps and video. A DVD should not only look good on screen but the cover must also be well-designed. Peter Franken has therefore come up with another beautiful design ​​for both the cover and the labels on the DVDs.

Purchase your DVD in the DCE store!

The Company Performance Ensemble has announced their 2015 show. The production is called 'Voyage Spectacle'.

The Company will invite the audience to embark on a journey through Paris in 1900 with their travelling show. "In true CO fashion it will be edgy, weird, strange and most definitely unique", the corps states. "But we promise you it will be the travelling show you will not want to miss."

The reigning European champions will once again be under the leadership of Mark Nicholson and the design team Ian Butt, Andrew Markworth and Mark Pickles. "They will push the boundaries in both creativity and innovation whilst presenting an entertaining production for audience and adjudicators", the corps says in a press release.

The show will blend original music from Andrew Markworth together with source music from Erik Satie, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Joe Cocker. The show will be presented to audiences across both the UK and Europe.

Registration for the DCE Championships 2015 has started. For the whole of November, corps can register for the European Championships on Saturday the 26th of September 2015 in Kerkrade.

Corps can register until the 30th of November. If the number of registered corps on that date is 22 or less, then all of the corps will place automatically. In the event that there are more than 22 entries, DCE will use the 'wildcard' system as described in the Terms & Conditions.

The board of Drum Corps Europe hopes to organise a large-scale and attractive drum corps event at the Parkstad Limburg Stadium in Kerkrade next year, with great shows and thousands of drum corps fans.

You can register using the online registration form. Questions about participation? Email Drum Corps Europe: info@drumcorpseurope.org.

Craig Walker will be joining their instructional team of the Kidsgrove Scouts this season. He has been an instructor with The DCI World Class corps The Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps for the past eight years.

Walker will join Kidsgrove’s Musical Director Tez Smith along with instructors Danny Goodier, Greg Hampson and Mark Cresswell, as the corps brings together their 2015 production, 'The Stone Circle'. He has over 25 years experience of European drum corps. In 1988, he began his marching career with Dagenham Crusaders as a soprano player before moving to Blue Eagles in 1989. Craig then travelled to the USA in 1996 to march mellophone with The Cadets.

His teaching career started in 2000 with The Senators where he achieved the DCUK High Brass caption on six occasions and a DCE High Brass title. Since then Walker has taken on the roles of Brass Supervisor for Dagenham Crusaders and Consultant at Black Knights.

"I am excited to join the Kidsgrove Scouts where there is a huge amount of talent, both on the staff team and within the membership", Walker said. "The 2015 production already looks to be an exciting one for drum corps and I am looking forward to helping wherever I can."

Musical Director of the Kidsgrove Scouts Tez Smith added: "We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Craig to the Kidsgrove Scouts brass staff. Someone with his wealth of experience and depth of drum corps knowledge can only enhance the level of tuition the members are receiving and ultimately help bring the 2015 brass programme to life."