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Color Guard Netherlands and Drum Corps Europe will be cooperating in the area of new media. The two organisations are working on an ambitious plan to improve the way in which fans can access media. The plan will be presented on 11th March.

The media plan includes a webcast, DVDs and Video on Demand. In recent years, both organisations have been pioneers in making major events such as the DCE European Championships and CGN Championships accessible to a large audience via a webcast, and they have spent a lot of time and money on professional DVD productions.

The new media plan should result in a better, simpler and faster way of making audio and video available. By working together, the organisations have been able to cut costs, which is also necessary. "At DCE and CGN, we have great ambitions in the area of media, but we also want everything to be affordable", states Rob Beeren, one of the initiators. "With the new media plan we are hoping to achieve both objectives."

In recent months, the organisations have been working intensively on the preparations. On Monday 11th March, CGN and DCE will announce the new plans.

Drum Corps United Kingdom has announced the details of the corps who have registered so far for the 2013 season. 14 Corps have registered for the British drum corps competition.

Details of show entries will be released later in the year but DCUK has advised that all four contests prior to the British Championships in September have good entry levels with between eight and twelve corps scheduled to take part in each one. The corps list is as follows:

Open Class (Premier Class)
Beeches (Great Barr, Birmingham)
Black Knights (Gravesend, Kent)
Cadence (Surrey and Berkshire)
Kidsgrove Scouts (Kidsgrove, Staffordshire)
Nexus (Biggleswade and Bedford, Bedfordshire)
Commodores (Poynton, Cheshire)
Revolution Show Corps (Queensbury, West Yorkshire)
Spirit Of Coventry (Coventry)
Staffordshire Knights (Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire)
The 6th (Brighton and Hove, East Sussex)
The Company (Nottingham, Notts)

Junior Class
37th Kingswood Scouts Cadets (Bristol)
Concord AllStars (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)
Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors (Kidsgrove, Staffordshire)

In addition to the corps listed above, four corps have advised they are either considering membership or are just waiting to confirm what contests they can do before registering. DCUK is entering its 34th consecutive season and after the dramatic turn around in member corps from only five corps in 2008 the organisation is pleased to have been able to report a membership of at least 13-14 corps each season since to continue the legacy started in 1980 of being the 'Home Of British Drum Corps'.

The 'Harlem Shake' video that Drum Corps International uploaded onto YouTube a week ago has turned out to be an absolute hit. The video has over a million views.

The Harlem Shake is a big craze on the internet. Drum Corps International has responded to the craze by uploading its own version of the Harlem Shake on its YouTube channel. This video did not involve any recording, as it is a compilation of images from drum corps shows.

"It's pretty staggering how quickly this video took hold and spread virally. We threw it together in a matter of an hour last Friday, just to have some fun with visitors to our channel over the weekend", DCI Manager of Video Services Jeff Hartowicz said. "We knew we weren't really staging the 'Harlem Shake' as it was perhaps intended, but we thought our fans might get a kick out of our content being set against this enormously popular Internet meme. It's been interesting to watch the video as a top trending clip on YouTube this week."

Right now, the video has over 1,080,000 views. You can watch the video below:

Jordan Murray from the UK joins the indoor drumline Rhythm X this season. The 16-year-old British top drummer shares his experiences exclusively on the IPE website.

Murray has been in the United States for several weeks and his first blog entry is now online. He will be the first ever British drummer to be involved in a percussion ensemble of Winter Guard International, and his first blog includes how he arranged things with school so that he can miss three months of his final year.

On the IPE website, there is already a blog from Tijl van der Meulen. The Belgian has joint the front ensemble of Matrix, and keeps European percussion fans updated of his experiences. AVan der Meulen has published three updates so far on the website of Indoor Percussion Europe.

Erwin van Gemert from IPE can see that there is a lot of interest for the updates. "We have seen a significant increase in the number of visits since the start of the first blog. Apparently the blogs satisfy a great demand, as lots of percussion fans want to know how the Europeans are doing on the other side of the Atlantic. We are very pleased with the attention the blogs are getting."

The blogs can be found at www.indoorpercussioneurope.org.

Cadence Drum & Bugle Corps has announced the 2013 summer programme 'Through the Mirror'. The corps will return to the Drum Corps United Kingdom competition after 8-year absence.

Cadence will present our programme in five musical and visual movements: 'Reflection', 'Behind the Mirror', 'Imagination', 'Wonderland' and 'Escape'. The design team includes Vicky Spalding (percussion), Andy Bradbury (orchestral percussion), Bobbie Clifford (visual), Kayleigh and Roxanne Bicknell (auxiliary) and 'The Mad Hatter' (brass).

The entire home grown design team from 2012 are on board and already working hard to provide the performers with a programme that will be the most ambitious and exciting to date as Cadence return to top flight competition in BYBA and DCUK for the first time since 2004.

2013 will also see the corps replace their ageing Kanstul G Bugles with a brand new line of Kanstul Bb and F Marching Brass. Cadence will be the first ever European unit to showcase the new Kanstul Marching Brass range.

With the announcement of the location of the French contest, Indoor Percussion Europe has finalised its season. It took a little longer to confirm the French site than IPE had expected.

There were participants for the French contest, but it was more difficult for Indoor Percussion Europe than expected to find a good venue. They finally managed this with Salle Jean le Plat in Hem, near Lille. Currently, five participants from France and Belgium have signed up for the French IPE contest.

In adition to the recently completed Irish contest, a contest in Sweden is scheduled on Sunday 2nd March. Nine groups from Sweden and Denmark will appear at the starting line of this contest. The European indoor percussion season will end on Sunday 7th April at Tournai, Belgium, where eleven units from four countries will compete for the European titles.

The Clonmel Bluehawks have announced their 2013 production. The programme is called 'As the Last Petal Falls...'.

Following a successful season in 2012 which saw the Bluehawks finish runner-up in the Irish circuit, the 11-time Irish champions now look forward to competing in the circuit of the Irish Marching Bands Association for the 2013 season.

The 2013 programme looks at the theme of forbidden love, and features music by John Williams, Michael Kamen, Alan Menken, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The corps will once again work with design team of Eoin O' Keeffe, Jon Bilby and Remco Groenewegen.

The 2013 Irish Winter Guard and Indoor Percussion Championship, now in its third year, was held at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght last Saturday. The show was run in association with WGUK and IPE and featured eight Irish units and one UK unit.

The Junior Class had three units in competition: Vikettes (Tallaght Youth Band), Revolution and Inbhear Mór. The Revolution guard from Athlone who were competing in their first competition placed first winning the Junior Class title.

A Class featured four Irish guards battling for the A Class title: Aurora (Tallaght Youth Band), Clonmel BlueHawks, Infinity (Clondalkin Youth Band) and Winter Festival (Tallaght Festival Band). In a very close competition with only 3.7 points separating fourth and first place, Winter Festival took the A Class title with their 2013 production 'The Lovers'. Winter guard fans from the UK can catch Winter Festival performing at the WGUK contest on Burgess Hill, W Sussex on 24th March.

The Open Class title was awarded to The Academy from Thurrock - UK who made a welcome return to Ireland. The Academy are celebrating their 25th Anniversary year. The IMBA would like to thank The Academy for making the trip to this years Championships. The Academy scored 70.8 and took the Open Class title.

The Indoor Percussion Class had one entry, Mor Blue. This was the first IPE Regional to be held in Ireland and was also a debut for Mór Blue. Mór Blue who are the indoor percussion unit of Inbhear Mór from Arklow, Co.Wicklow, presented their 2013 produsction 'The Mask of Sanity'. Mór Blue who will be participating in the full IPE circuit in 2014 took the indoor percussion title with a score of 52.7.

Videos of all performances can be viewed on the IMBA Facebook page. Full recaps and scores can be viewed at www.irishmarchingbands.org.

No less than three European percussionists will be joining DCI top corps The Cavaliers this summer. Bernd Coene and Dennis Clausing will be marching members and Thomas Claesen will take the role of instructor.

Bernd Coene from Ledegem (Belgium) will be playing off-center marimba this summer, in the front ensemble of 'The Green Machine'. He got the news last weekend at the February camp. Bernd started his musical career at DS Kids, later moved on to DrumSpirit Percussion Ensemble and is still a member and instructor there. Bernd is also an instructor at The Beverly Drumband.

Dennis Clausing from Neustadt am Rübenberge (Germany) is the first German to play with The Cavaliers. He was also a offered a member contract last weekend and will be playing bottom bass drum during his age-out season. In Germany, Dennis marches Wölper Löwen Drum & Bugle Corps and gained experience in the Netherlands at Jubal Drum & Bugle Corps and Jubal Indoor Percussion. In 2013, he will march in the Jubal bass line again.

Thomas Claesen from Ostend (Belgium) will be marching The Cavaliers for the third consecutive season. In 2011 he was a member during his age-out year, and in 2012 he became tenor tech, a position he will be taking up again this year. In Europe, Thomas is drumline caption head and arranger for DrumSpirit Percussion Ensemble and drumline arranger and visual designer for The Beverly Drumband. (Source: Thomas Claesen)

In its latest issue, the online magazine Drum Corps World focuses on the DVDs of the DCE European Championships 2012. DCE is pleased with the worldwide attention.

Drum Corps World, which came out a little bit later than intended this time due to a huge snowstorm, created space to announce the European DVDs. Drum Corps Europe welcomes the publication and hopes that American drum corps fans will also order the DVD. That would not be for the first time, because every year DCE ships a few copies across the ocean.

As well as DCE, other European news is also featured in the latest DCW issue. Drum Corps World has published an article about the upcoming competition season and the Individuals & Ensembles of Indoor Percussion Europe.

You can read Drum Corps World for free here (after free registration).

Everyone will have their own association with the number thirteen, but it is mostly known as an unlucky number. This does not scare Beatrix from Hilversum - The Netherlands, as it announces its new show 'Thirteen'.

The number that generates negative feelings is the theme of the show. The programme will encourage the members to develop themselves in the area of ​​emotions, music, and movement", says Beatrix. "That is what stimulated and motivated the programme team and designers, with national and international names such as Scott Brown, Rob Balfoort and Craig Sherratt, to link tradition and innovation in music and movement."

In the show, the famous and lesser known music from the movies 'Star Wars', 'Close Encounters' and 'ET' are used. Music by Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Alice Dona and Gavin Greenaway and John Williams are all linked to the theme of '13'.

The Tallaght Youth Band were asked to help promote a single by taking part in a video futuring well knows Irish artists. The video clip can now be watched online and the song is available on iTunes.

Irelands leading national radio station Today FM is running it's annual charity fundraiser 'Shave or Dye' for the Irish Cancer Society. Participants are asked to donate for people who offer to 'shave' or 'dye' their hair in support of the Irish Cancer Society.

This year the radio station has launched an original song, 'Start Again' by The Grand Parade featuring Irish artists Gavin Glass, Valerie Francis, Jerry Fish, Cathy Davey & Mundy to promote 'Shave or Dye'. The clip is available on YouTube.

Eight percussion units will be participating in the European WGI Regional for percussion, which will be held this Saturday in Almere. The Independent Marching Open Class is the biggest class with five groups.

Percussion units from the Netherlands, Belgium and France will appear on the floor of the Top Sports Centre in Almere this Saturday, and the judging panel consists of WGI judges Julie Davila (Performance Analysis), Chris Hestin (General Effect) and Jim Dwyer (Visual Effect). Color Guard Netherlands is currently the only organisation outside the United States with permission to organise a Regional on behalf of Winter Guard International.

Besides the percussion competition, there will also be a colorguard contest for which 45 guard units have signed up. More information can be found at www.colorguard.org.

Following a successful season in 2012, the current Irish Champions, TYB Marching Vikings have announced their 2013 programme 'Nocturnal Metropolist'. The Marching Vikings are the specialist marching wing of Dublin-based Tallaght Youth Band.

The show looks at several night-time scenes in the city, from the rushing and chaos on busy streets, to the laid-back atmosphere of a jazz club, as well as the more sinister side of city life at night. As well as featuring original music by Eoin O'Keeffe, the show will also feature music by George Gershwin, Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Angela Hunt and Jane't 'Jnay' Sewell-Ulepic. TYB Marching Vikings will return to the DCE Championships for the second time in 2013.

Meanwhile, The Vikings Cadet unit will present their 2013 production 'The Dark Forest', where curiosity gets the better of the band, as they enter the forest to be confronted with fear before making a dash for escape. The show features original music by Eoin O'Keeffe exclusively.

Both the senior and cadet units will once will again work with the design team of Eoin O'Keeffe, Jon Bilby and Remco Groenewegen.

The Dagenham Crusaders Alumni will perform at the CGN Championships in Almere. The former members of the famous UK drum & bugle corps will be traveling to the Netherlands especially for this event.

In 2009/2010, the drum & bugle corps reunited after decades of absence and performed at the DCE and DCUK Championships and had a short revival in the competition. Now, the Dagenham winter guard is repeating this stunt. In the 80s of the last century, the guard was successful at the DCUK winter guard competition (now WGUK), and won the title in 1984.

Exactly what the group will show is not yet clear though there is a suspicion that, as with the drum & bugle corps in 2010, it will be an 'old school' show.

Marching Music France, the national French marching music organisation, has announced the registration period for the 3rd edition of its national contest certified by Drum Corps Europe. This contest will take place on 17th August in Quiberon (Brittany).

"After the success of the 2012 edition with Beatrix Drum and Bugle Corps among the contestants, we hope that the 2013 edition will bring more French groups to register so that they can get a mark from the European judges coming for the event", says Yohann Boscher, manager of MMF. "The groups will have a possibility to choose the category they will compete in. They will also have the opportunity to register for an exhibition so that they can present their show in front of the audience and to the judges and get a score only communicated to the group."

"The marching style being quite new in France", Boscher continues. "We understand that some groups want to get a private score and be judged on their skills before they get a public score." Foreign groups are also welcome. Registration ends on 15th April. More informations can be found at www.marchingmusicfrance.fr.

Last Thursday evening saw the official launch of Reactiv Media's Sponsorship of The Company Performance Ensemble, which took place after Halifax RLFC victorious match over Sheffield Eagles at 'The Shay'.

Reactiv Media, set up in June 2007, has the goal of bringing all the various aspects of the data and lead generation industry under one roof. Tony Abbott, Managing Director of Reactiv Media, was involved in the drum corps activity from a young age – he competed in the UK drum corps circuit as a member of the Basildon Drum and Trumpet Corps, which then became the Blue Eagles.

He was involved with the Blue Eagles for 20 years, subsequently relocating to the North of England, where he was involved with many groups around the Yorkshire area at all levels. From the beginning the activity had taught him many of the skill sets which he uses to drive his business forward in the present day. Tony is proud of his drum corps roots, and hopes to support the drum corps activity in the future through the sponsorship of The Company.

Starriders Drum & Bugle Corps from Bad Münder are celebrating their 30 year anniversary this year. In June, the successful German corps will celebrate with a big party in Bad Münder.

Since its launch in 1983, the Starriders have put their own stamp on the European drum corps activity. In the 80s and 90s, the Starriders won national titles and the corps challenged the Dutch subtoppers in the Drum Corps Holland competition.

The Starriders remain a strong presence in the European drum corps competition. As the only German corps, Starriders made the DCE Premier Class Finals every year between 2003 and 2012, and many of the Drum Corps Germany titles also went to Bad Münder. Last year, the corps came seventh at the DCE European Championships.

The popularity of Drum Corps Europe on social media is still growing considerably. More than 2,500 fans now follow DCE news updates on Twitter.

Drum Corps Europe has accounts on Twitter in English, Dutch, German, French and Italian. The followers of the English Tweets are in the majority with 1,657 followers. Every month, we gain over 100 followers on average. All the itmes from the DCE news page are distributed directly via Twitter. People can also keep up with the latest DCE news on drum corps, colour guard, percussion and show bands via Facebook.

Not following the latest drum corps news yet? You can become a follower with one click of a button through:

www.twitter.com/drumcorpseurope (English)
www.twitter.com/drumcorpsnl (Dutch)
www.twitter.com/drumcorpsde (German)
www.twitter.com/drumcorpsit (Italian)
www.twitter.com/drumcorpsfr (French)

Or 'like' the Facebook page of Drum Corps Europe on www.facebook.com/drumcorpseurope.

Show & Marching Band DAP from Apeldoorn, which is celebrating its 80 year anniversary today, will be participating in the competition of Drum Corps Netherlands in its anniversary year. That means a comeback to the drum corps competition after years of absence.

DAP was well-known in the drum corps competition in the years 2003 to 2006. The corps from Apeldoorn qualified for the DCE Finals in 2003 and 2005, finishing in seventh and tenth place respectively. This year, DAP is making its come-back in Drum Corps Netherlands. The band will enter the DCN contest in Huizen and the DCN Finals in Dordrecht.

The new show of DAP is called 'I Love Rock and Roll', with tracks by Elvis and The Baseballs. Music pieces in the show include 'Can't Help Falling in Love', 'Hound Dog', 'Umbrella', 'I Love Rock And Roll', 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' and 'Midnight Special'. DAP is moving with the times and adding a new 'aux' group to the show with drums and bass.